


hold her gently

by Softlight



Category: RWBY
Genre: Adam is evil per usual, F/F, happy ending!, the swan lake au, this was supposed to be a joke and now it's not, yird
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-14
Updated: 2020-04-23
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:55:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 27,920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23651941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Softlight/pseuds/Softlight
Summary: “When I held her, I held her gently so that she always knew she could fly away and I would never harm her or clip her wings” -Nikita GillCrown Princess Blake Belladonna is in love.  Slight problem, the woman she loves has disappeared, and she is forced to accept the courtship of the notorious Duke Adam Taurus of White Fang.  Will she be able to rescue her love and evade marriage to the duke?
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long
Comments: 193
Kudos: 159





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Someone requested this after making a yird joke, and it was supposed to be a joke. IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A JOKE, BUT I CAN'T WRITE JOKES, SO HERE WE ARE. *cries in writer* But this should just be a nice, short, fluffy fic. Hopefully I won't end up eating my words.

Crown Princess Blake Belladonna, first of her name, the only daughter of King Ghira and Queen Kali, and rightful heir to the throne of Menagerie, was bored. Perhaps bored was the wrong word, but, for someone as well-read as the Crown Princess, she was struggling to put a name to what she was feeling. Boredom was definitely felt, but there was an edge to it, a sharpness that cut through her core and made her ache. Frustration, then.

“It is lovely to see you again,” she said, curtseying at the duke before her. The horned man smiled and bowed back.

“The pleasure is all mine,” Duke Adam of White Fang said, flashing a toothy smile. “May I?”

She extended her hand, and she cringed as his wet lips touched her skin. Blake withdrew her hand as quickly as she could, but not before he gave it a gentle squeeze. She drew her hand back to her side, barely resisting the desire to wipe his saliva off on the side of her dress. Pity it was such a nice dress and didn’t deserve that. 

She smiled at him politely. “How was your journey, Duke Taurus?” she asked, allowing him to take her arm and lead her onto the dance floor.

“Tiring,” he admitted, his hand falling to grab her waist. His grip was uncomfortably tight. “But it was well-worth the journey to see your lovely visage.”

Blake bit her tongue and smiled. “Thank you,” she said. The music playing was upbeat and lively, and it was the perfect dance for not wanting to touch your partner. She had seen plenty about Adam and heard more than his notoriously strict laws between Faunus and humankind, laws her parents were currently trying to crack down on. Menagerie was a safe place for the Faunus, but if it wasn’t safe for humankind, then their treatment in the other kingdoms would never improve, something the Duke apparently failed to comprehend.

“Do you enjoy dancing, your Highness?” he asked. 

“Only as much as I enjoy my partner,” she bit primly, flashing a curt smile. Something twisted behind his eyes, but it was gone before she could recognize what it was. 

“Well, then, I hope you are enjoying yourself as much as I am,” he said. His voice was smooth and easy, evidently well-practiced. He would not be thrown off easily.

She raised a brow. “We’ll see.” Her voice finally nailed the frostiness Weiss was always trying to teach her, and she couldn’t help but smile privately as the Duke’s eyes flashed again. 

The song ended, and they bowed to one another. “Would you care for another dance, your Highness?” he asked. 

“I think I will grab some refreshment. But, please, enjoy yourself.” She smiled and backed off, fleeing into the crowd. 

She felt everyone’s eyes on her as she retreated and grabbed a glass off of a server. Blake’s twentieth birthday party was supposed to be relaxing, her last night before the official courting began, but, of course, suitors were already lining up to harass her. She had barely fended off a dozen or so thus far, and hopefully had dissuaded half of them from announcing their desire to court her tomorrow. 

She sighed into her drink, her corset not allowing her to take deep breaths but taking one anyways. Her birthday was the one day a year she was supposed to allow herself to be selfish, allow herself privacy and her own enjoyment, but she had a duty to do. Blake had to find a spouse and marry them for the sake of Menagerie. 

Her parents had had it easy. Crown Prince Ghira had fallen in love with Duchess Kali over years of them studying together, and it had been no surprise to anyone when, the day after his twentieth birthday, her mother had announced her desire to court him. Her father, already infatuated, agreed to her courtship, and they were married within the year. It was a love story for the ballads, a classic and sweet story that mothers told their children at night, the kind of legend everyone hoped they would fall into.

Blake, unfortunately, knew better. Her parents’ love was once in a lifetime, and Blake had never been so lucky. There had never been anyone to catch her eye, at least, no one she could have. Her stomach clenched. That was fine. Princesses married for their country, and love could come after. Or at least friendship. She could imagine herself happily married to a friend, but all of her friends were happily and swoonfully in love. 

She took another sip of her drink and placed it on a passing tray as she finished it, and she squared her shoulders. Blake still had time. She could deny all her suitors tomorrow, if she wished. She was the princess, she could technically do whatever she pleased. But Blake had a duty, and she was far too stubborn and loved her country far too much to put it off. No, she would find someone. Someone who loved Menagerie as much as she did, or could grow to love it like she did. Someone who would be kind to the people. Someone who had a spine of steel and would refuse to let the other kingdoms walk all over them. Someone with fire in their veins.

Her eye fell longingly on the Lady of Patch. Due to inherit her father’s place one day as Duchess, Lady Yang Xiao Long was glowing in the candlelight. Her golden hair was free flowing around her shoulders and caught the firelight like flame was meant to illuminate her. She wore a yellow dress that was dull in comparison to her flaming locks, but she still glimmered like a coin. Her shoulders were bare and revealed freckled skin that Blake could see even from across the ballroom. She looked radiant. She looked stunning. She looked beautiful.

Blake’s stomach tightened, and she averted her gaze. Staring at Yang was like staring at the sun; it only hurt her in the end, even if it was worth every second. 

“You know, you could talk to her.” Blake rolled her eyes as she turned to her side. 

“Talk to who?” she asked, smoothing out her lilac skirts.

Princess Weiss of Atlas sighed. “You’re hopeless.”

“And you’re as lovely as ever.” 

The two girls smiled at each other before Blake took Weiss into her arms. “It’s so good to see you,” she said into her ear before drawing back. “I thought you weren’t coming. I thought your sister needed you home for her coronation.” Crown Princess Winter was about to turn twenty five, officially coming of age and inheriting the throne of Atlas. As though she hadn’t already been running the country for years.

Weiss shrugged. “Do you really think I would miss my best friend’s birthday?” Her eyes glimmered. “Besides, Winter can handle running the kingdom for two weeks without me. You need me more.”

“I feel like that’s an insult, but I’m glad you’re here,” she said. “And you’ll be here for two weeks?” Her heart soared.

Weiss nodded. “Two weeks, and then back to Atlas. But you’ll be visiting soon enough.”

“I’m excited to come visit. But, more importantly, I’m so happy you’re here.” Tension eased in her chest. 

“Yeah, don’t think you can get away from the elephant in the room.” Weiss elegantly jerked her chin towards the Lady of Patch. “You need to talk to her tonight.”

Blake sighed. “What would I even say?” Their last few letters had been short, but Blake had held back so much. She hadn’t been able to tell Yang how much she wanted her to court her, how much she wanted her. She couldn’t do that to her. It wasn’t fair. 

“She loves talking to you, I’m pretty sure you could start talking about the library’s organization and she’d be thrilled.”

“First off, library organization is very important and fascinating, and second, how do you know that?”

“I have my sources.” Weiss smirked. “But go talk to her. You two have been dancing around each other for years, and you’re twenty now. Go make it happen.”

Blake sighed. “You know I can’t.” 

“She would have no problem abdicating to Ruby, Blake. Yang loves Patch, but she loves you more.”

“I won’t ask her to give up her birthright. I won’t.”

Weiss rolled her eyes. “For all that you two talk to each other, the fact that you two are such idiots about one another astounds me. Blake, you love her, and she loves you, and it’s that simple. Just tell her, and she will court you.”

Blake straightened her shoulders. “She does not love me,” she insisted. Even though she knew it was a lie. She knew Yang loved her, and she knew she loved Yang. But things were more complicated than love. Weren’t they?

“Trust me, she does.”

“How do you know I love her?”

“Because she’s all you talk about. Well, after books.”

“You’re horrible.”

“I’m right, and you love each other. This should be easy.”

“You know it’s so much more complicated than that.”

“But you’re the ones making it complicated!” Weiss grabbed her wrist and started dragging her across the ballroom in Yang’s direction. “You two probably haven’t even talked about this yet, but that ends tonight. You need to have a conversation.”

“Weiss, let go!” She pulled, but Weiss’s grip was strong. Soon enough, she was in front of Yang, who simply blinked in surprise. “Hi,” she squeaked, ears shooting upright.

Yang curtseyed. “Your Royal Highnesses,” she said, the people around her following suit, but Blake didn’t care. Yang straightened up, and her easy smile made Blake’s stomach clench. “What’s up?”

Weiss groaned. “Now is not the time to fix your vocabulary, just follow me.” She grabbed Yang with her other hand and dragged the both of them onto a balcony. “You two need to talk.” She tapped her foot. “Now.”

“Talk about what?” Yang asked, eyes darting between Blake and Weiss.

“Weiss, enough,” Blake hissed, but Weiss ignored her.

“How you two are in love with each other but neither of you will acknowledge it because you’re scared of hurting the other person,” she said smoothly. Weiss let go of both of their hands and crossed her arms. “Now, I’m going to leave you two here, and you are going to have a conversation.”

The Atlesian princess disappeared in a blink, and Blake wanted to scream. Her face was as red as a tomato, and she didn’t look at Yang. “I’m sorry about her, you know how Weiss is,” she said awkwardly. Panic surged through her chest. 

Yang sighed, running a hand through her hair. “Come here,” she said, drawing out further onto the balcony. Blake followed, her stomach twisting. Yang leaned against the railing, and Blake just stared at her. “We really should talk,” Yang said. Her voice was soft.

Blake shook her head. “You are not giving up Patch. Not for me.” They had danced around this conversation plenty of times, and she hated Weiss for forcing them to have it. 

“It’s my choice, Blake.” Yang kept staring at the sky. “And I’d rather have you than Patch.”

“I don’t want you to regret this,” Blake said. 

Yang snorted. “I love you. I’m not going to regret this, Blake.”

Blake closed her eyes. She so rarely got to hear Yang’s voice, but each word was simultaneously heaven and hell. “You can’t know that.”

“Maybe not. But I know that I love you, and I want you.” Yang hesitated. “Do you not want me?”

Blake’s heart broke. “I love you,” she said before she could think. They’d written the words, penned them in ink hundreds of times, but they had never said them outloud. Not before tonight. “But I love you, and I don’t want you to do something you’ll regret.”

“You’re not something I’ll regret.” Yang shrugged. “Ruby will be a better Duchess than I’d ever be, and the people of Patch deserve someone who will love them like I love you.” Yang turned to face her. Her eyes were glowing in the moonlight. “Say the words, Blake, and I won’t do it. I won’t come tomorrow, I won’t court you. I’ll go back to Patch and you’ll never have to see me or hear from me again. But know that I want to, that I choose to, that I choose you.”

Blake closed her eyes, but Yang grabbed her hands. Yang got on her knees, looking up at her. Blake could only watch. “I love you, Blake. Let me love you.”

Tears sprang to her eyes. “Okay,” she breathed. She couldn’t say no, not to Yang. Yang’s eyes crinkled as she smiled. “Court me, Yang. Come tomorrow, and court me.”

“I would be honored,” Yang said, standing up. She’s still holding Blake’s hands, and she pressed her fingers to her lips. Blake shivers at the softness, and she wished she could feel them against her mouth. Yang looked up at her, and she got the feeling Yang knew exactly how she felt. 

They separated, but Blake’s hand was tingling. She barely resisted the urge to run her fingers over the spots where Yang’s lips had been. “Tomorrow, then,” she forced herself to say. 

Yang smiled. “Tomorrow.”

* * *

Blake sat to her father’s left, chin raised high as she surveyed the growing crowd. Excitement tumbled in her chest, and she barely resisted the urge to shake her leg in anticipation. The suitors would come out before her, and she would either approve them and allow them to court her, or she would refuse them. She had told her parents last night about Yang, at least, what they hadn’t already known, and they had agreed to support her decision. 

Yang. Who she loved. Yang. Who loved her. _Yang_.

Her eyes scanned the crowd, and a pit dropped in her stomach. The suitors were supposed to be making their way to the front of the throne room, but the familiar head of blazing blonde hair was missing. She wasn’t there. _She wasn’t there_.

Blake stiffened, straightening up. She knew nothing would keep Yang from her, she had seen it in her eyes. _Unless she was lying_ a voice whispered to her, and fear twisted in her stomach. No, Yang wouldn’t lie. Yang would never do that. Not to her.

So where was she?

“Who would declare their intentions to court my daughter?” Ghira boomed, bringing the room to silence. Blake winced. 

“I would court the princess!” Only one voice, instead of the dozens she had been anticipating. Her stomach churned. No. Anyone but him. 

Duke Adam Taurus stepped forward and grinned, teeth bright and glossy in the light. “If you would have me, your Highness,” he said, bending at the waist.

Everyone looked to Blake. She could only stare in horror at the singular man before her. No one else came forward. There was no one else. Just him. Only him.

“I-” She cleared her throat, straightening up. “I accept.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back everybody! It was so lovely to see how many of you are interested in this story, it really warms my heart. And, er, I have a couple ideas, because my stupid brain betrayed me, but I wanted to see how you guys felt about a little angst... Not this chapter! But later. Let me know if you want me to keep this short and sweet, or a bit longer and a bit angsty.

Traditionally, Blake was supposed to spend the rest of the day with her suitor. Her parents often talked about their first garden walk after they were officially courting, and she had wanted that with Yang. She had wanted to take her through the gardens and show her the flowers and her favorite reading nook and the pond where the fish glimmered. She had wanted that.

But instead, she was having lunch with Duke Adam Taurus and barely able to breathe. Her parents kept sending her worried looks, but she ignored them and stared into her soup. 

_Where was Yang?_

“So, Duke Taurus, will you be staying in the capitol for long?” her mother asked, and her heart leapt up. Hopefully, he would head home to White Fang and give her some time to figure out what the hell had happened to Yang. She could still salvage this. It was still fixable. 

Still, her stomach roiled, and she was barely able to swallow her soup. She should have had several suitors calling for her hand today. Not just Adam. Where had they gone? What had happened?

“I was planning on staying for the rest of the month and alternating months from here on out,” Adam replied smoothly. He was sat across from her at their family table, so, if she wanted to, she could kick him in the shins. She didn’t, but, Brothers’ above, she wanted to. He wore a cocky smile, and she wanted to hit it off his stupid face.

“Lovely,” her mother said, but Blake knew she meant anything but. Neither of her parents liked Adam. Her mother hid it better, but her father was barely holding back a grimace. “The capital is rather different from White Fang.”

Adam nodded. “Indeed, it is.” He took a sip of his drink. “I hope that we can rectify that in due time.”

“Of course. If I’m to visit White Fang often, we must bring it to our standards,” Blake said sweetly. Adam cut her a glare, but it faded as soon as it was there. 

“Of course.” He cleared his throat. “I would hate for you to be uncomfortable.” She got the distinct feeling he didn’t care at all, but she smiled at him anyways. He needed to stay on her good side if he wanted her to say yes to his proposal.

Because she knew it was going to come sooner rather than later. She could say no, but she needed a spouse, and since apparently all of her suitors had disappeared overnight, she had no choice at the moment. She was stuck with him until she found Yang and sorted everything out, but he was stuck with her too. For now. 

“That’s kind of you,” she said, stirring her soup before taking a sip. “Did you enjoy the ball last night?”

“Immensely. Although I would be remiss if I didn’t mention how much I missed you after our dance, your Highness.”

Blake thinned her lips in a smile. “Princess Weiss dragged me away, I’m afraid. She’s a dear friend, and I haven’t seen her in many months.” Indeed, she had spent most of the night with Weiss after she and Yang had left the balcony. Yang and Blake had only dared a single dance before splitting up for the evening. It would have looked bad if she spent the entire evening with only one of her potential suitors. But that didn’t matter now. She wished she had stolen another dance with her. “So please, accept my apology.”

Adam nodded. “Of course. Besides, we have plenty of more dances to come.”

She couldn’t stop her eyes from flashing, but she nodded. “Indeed we do,” she said. “Although I will admit, I’m not usually one for much dancing.” 

“I doubt that,” Adam said. “You’re a beautiful dancer. I couldn’t take my eyes off of you.” She felt his gaze look her up and down, and she grimaced as he did. “You are a delight.”

“I wouldn’t say that. She still steps on my toes,” Ghira offered with a tight and booming laugh. 

“That is not my fault, and you know it,” she said, but she smiled at her father. He grinned back, and Kali cleared her throat. “But thank you. I appreciate the compliment.”

They finished lunch without much fanfare, and she was relieved that she could escape back to her chambers. She would have someone send a message to Yang to find her, and this would all be sorted. 

“May I walk you back to your rooms, your Highness?” 

Blake blanched, but she nodded, extending her hand. “I would be honored,” she said stiffly. He took her hand, and she did her best to not show her revulsion. She probably failed, but she was trying, dammit.

“We’ll see you at dinner, darling,” her mother called as they walked away. She was thankful for the guards every few feet as they walked down the corridor and towards her chambers. Something to keep him in line. 

“Do you enjoy your visits to the capital, Duke Taurus?” she asked as they walked, itching to run ahead. But he kept them at a snail’s pace, even as she tried to speed them up.

“Please, call me Adam, your Highness.” He flashed a grin at her. “You don’t need to be so formal. Not with me. Not anymore.”

A bitter taste filled her mouth. “Adam,” she forced herself to say, “do you enjoy your visits to the capital?”

He sighed, tutting gently. “As we said, it is very different from White Fang,” he said. “I do love my home, but I imagine I will grow to love the capital just as much.” His hand squeezed hers. “It will be easy to love something you love.”

She smiled, sinking her teeth into her tongue. “Do you have any plans for tomorrow?”

He shook his head. “I was considering going hunting, but I can always put that off. Did you have anything in particular in mind?”

“Perhaps a walk through the gardens after breakfast. I would ask you to join me for breakfast, but I have a prior commitment with Princess Weiss and Lady Ilia.” Thank the Brothers for that. 

“Would you be free for lunch?”

She swallowed a grimace. “I suppose I would.”

“Excellent. A walk and lunch with you sounds like the perfect way to spend the day.” He chuckled. “Well, not perfect, but close.”

She didn’t take the bait. “Have you visited the gardens before?”

“No, I haven’t. Usually when I visit Kuo Kuana, I am caught up in meetings.”

“It’s beautiful,” she said. “One of my favorite places on the palace grounds.” Besides the library.

“Then I am sure it will become one of my favorites, too.”

She slid her eyes forward. Her door had never seemed so far away. “I hope it will. There’s plentiful wildlife, although we prefer to not hunt the creatures in the gardens.”

Adam stiffened. “What kind of wildlife?” he asked slowly.

Blake’s brow furrowed. “Fish, frogs, swans, butterflies-”

“Swans?” he repeated.

She nodded, and she half-dragged him to her door. “Yes, I can show you them tomorrow if you’d like.”

Adam looked back at her, and something was swirling behind his eyes. “That would be enjoyable,” he gritted out. “But it appears this is where I leave you.”

“Indeed. Have a lovely day, Adam.”

“You too, your Highness.”

She slammed the door shut behind her and collapsed onto the floor. Blake held her breath until she couldn’t hear his footsteps anymore, and she shoved her fist in her mouth and screamed. 

Blake forced herself to stand up and collect herself, but Brothers, he was horrible. His very presence revolted her, and spending the afternoon with him when she was supposed to have spent it with Yang just rubbed salt in the wound. 

She strode further into her chambers and checked her desk for any new messages. There were the anticipated papers from her parents, but there was also a letter addressed to her. She frowned, opening the envelope with her letter opener and quickly scanning through.

_Dear Blake,_

_I am sorry, but I cannot court you. I’m sorry. Please forgive me._

_Your obedient servant,_

_Yang Xiao Long_

Her heart caught in her chest, but confusion swirled around in her brain. That wasn’t Yang’s handwriting. Where was her messy scrawl and looping letters? Where was her vibrant violet ink that she always insisted on using for her signature? Where was her careless usage of words that no proper lady should use? Yang would never say “your obedient servant,” never. This wasn’t written by Yang.

Was it?

She tried to move, but her breath was short. Blake closed her eyes and took a deep breath. It was fine. She would find Yang, and she would explain everything. She would. Yang wouldn’t just leave her like this. She would never do this to her, to anyone. Yang was a good person to her core, and she would never hurt someone purposely. Not like this

Blake wiped her face with the back of her hand and found her fingers came away wet. She sniffled, blinking rapidly. Yang would never do this. Something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong.

She opened her door once more, and the guards saluted her. “Could one of you please ask the next servant you see to fetch Princess Weiss and Lady Yang?”

“Of course, Your Highness!” the guard said, and she nodded.

“Thank you.” She closed her door and brought her shaking hands down to her sides. Yang was probably fine. The faux letter from her meant nothing. Everything was fine.

Brothers’ above, she was bad at lying.

She didn’t have to wait long before there was a knock at her door. Blake ran to the door and yanked it open. It was Weiss, and she hated that her heart crumpled at the sight of her best friend. 

“Don’t look so disappointed,” Weiss said primly. 

“Sorry, I just…” She shook her head. “Come in.” She closed the door behind Weiss and led her to her couch. “We have a problem.”

“Oh, only one? Because at last count, we have far too many, and that wasn’t even counting all the potential problems we have if my suspicions are correct.”

Blake’s lip wobbled. “Yang didn’t show up this morning.”

“I know.” Weiss’s gaze softened. “I’m sorry, Blake.”

Blake shook her head. “No, don’t,” she said. “I think something is wrong.”

“What do you mean?”

“Yang promised she would be there this morning. The fact that she wasn’t means something is wrong.” She stood up and fetched the faux letter. “And then there’s the matter of getting this, which is not in Yang’s hand, and that no one besides Adam asked to court me. There’s a lot of problems, and something is seriously wrong.”

Weiss quickly scanned the letter, and a furrow formed between her brows. “This doesn’t resemble Yang’s penmanship in the slightest, it’s far better than hers.”

“I know!” She took a breath. “Which means someone wrote it. Which means Yang didn’t write it.”

There was a knock at the door, and Blake went to open it once more. “Yes?” she said, unable to hide the quiver in her voice.

“Lady Yang is missing, your Highness.”

Blake blinked. “Pardon?”

The servant girl shifted beneath her gaze. “Her sister has been unable to find her all day. There- there was a struggle in her rooms. We have reason to believe that she was taken.” Blake ran cold. 

“Are my parents aware?”

The girl nodded. “I just came back from their chambers. They wanted to know if you were alright.”

She swallowed thickly. “Tell them I will see them at dinner, please.”

The girl opened her mouth, but in the end she just nodded. “The guards are investigating now. But this is where I leave you.” The girl curtseyed, and Blake watched as she retreated. She shut the door. Her stomach was cold.

“Did she just say-”

“Yang is missing.” Blake was vaguely aware of Weiss taking her into her arms, but she just stared blankly at the wall. A whimper left her chest. “Yang is _missing_.”

“They’ll find her,” Weiss said, but Blake shook her head.

“This can’t be a coincidence,” she said, pushing herself out of Weiss’s arms. “There’s no way that Yang disappears today, there’s no way.”

“Something is wrong,” Weiss agreed. She bit her lip, and she looked away from Blake. “I think Duke Taurus has something to do with it.”

“Adam?” she repeated. 

Weiss nodded. “I overheard Lord Cardin earlier today,” she said, gently escorting Blake back down to the couch. “He said that someone bribed him to not court you. He said he refused, and then the man had drawn a knife. Apparently the knife bore Duke Taurus’s sigil.”

“Does he have proof?” 

“No. But Lord Cardin silenced himself once he realized I could hear him.”

Her stomach twisted. “You don’t think- do you?”

Weiss pursed her lips. “I find it awfully convenient that all your suitors backed off. I find it awfully convenient that Yang, the only suitor of yours that is courageous enough and bullheaded enough to not let a bribe or a threat get in her way, disappeared and cleared the path for Adam. I find it all awfully convenient.”

She sank into Weiss’s arms. “We have no proof.”

“No,” Weiss agreed, “but we’ll find some.”

* * *

After dinner, Blake went for a walk in the gardens. Her parents had no news, and they were just as concerned as she was. The fact that someone had managed to get past the guards to assault Yang was deeply concerning to them, and there was an ongoing thorough investigation of the guard. It didn’t soothe her, but she had pretended it did. 

She passed through the flowers without looking at them, trailing off the path to the lakeside. She knew her way to the shoreline, and she would have to ooh and ahh over the blooms with Adam. Blake had plenty of time to admire the gorgeous florals tomorrow. He undoubtedly would keep her at a snail’s pace once more, and his hands would be on her.

His hands. The same hands that may have hurt Yang. Her breath caught in her throat, and she shook her head. She had no proof. She had no reason to believe that it was his fault, no reason except the feeling in her gut that he would do anything to get what he wanted. Right now, he wanted Blake, and he wouldn’t let anyone stand in her way. 

What had he done to Yang?

Blake hadn’t cried. She had hiccuped in Weiss’s arms, but no tears had poured over her cheeks. Blake refused to let herself cry until Yang was found, safe and unharmed. And she would be found safe and unharmed, Brothers help her. 

The guards were speckled throughout the grounds, but there were few guards by the lake. It was in the center of the gardens, and it was nearly impossible for someone to get there without running into a guard. Blake was as alone as she could manage while outdoors. 

The cool night air soothed her lungs and prickled her skin, and she tightened her shawl around her arms. There was an ache in her chest. She knelt by the lake, not caring that the ground was wet and muddy and would likely stain her skirts. The water brushed up the shore to reach her knees, and she shivered as the cold ran through her and soaked her skirts.

She had wanted to show Yang this lake. She had wanted to show her the way the fishes’ scales glimmered in the sun and the swans sunning themselves and the gentle push and pull of the water on the shore. She had wanted Yang. She still wanted Yang, but she was in danger, she was hurting, and it was all Blake’s fault.

Blake brushed her skirts out, ignoring the heat in her eyes. The sun was just about to set, and the moon was starting to shine on the water. She watched as the swans swam over to her, and she sniffed, smiling at them. They were beautiful creatures, even if they could be mean. Blake had always liked watching them swim in the pond, and they had never bothered her.

But one swan kept coming closer. Closer than any swan had come before, until the bird was in the shallow waters. Blake blinked at the swan, wiping her face. 

“I don’t have any bread for you,” she said softly. “I’m sorry.”

The swan cocked its head at her. 

She pulled her knees to her chest. “Do you want to keep me company?”

The bird nodded.

Blake stared in shock, then laughed at herself. “I’m talking to a bird,” she muttered, rubbing her temple. “I think a bird understands me.” She let out a cold, broken laugh. “I’m going crazy. Because this day wasn’t horrible enough.”

The sun fully set.

There was a flash of light, and Blake had to look away. When she looked back, Lady Yang Xiao Long stood before her, her feet in the water and her dress from the ball in tatters around her. Blake’s lip wobbled, and she stood, backing up as she did. 

“Blake?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Remember to let me know how you feel about future angst down below!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Blame @thecarlonethatalsowrites and @Blake_Belladonnna_Defence_Force and the rest of the Bumbleby Big Bang server for the double update. YOU HAPPY NOW???

Blake blinked at the sudden golden woman before her, blinking the light out of her eyes. “Yang?” she whispered, throat thick. Her jaw slackened at the sight. 

“Oh thank the Brothers, you’re alright,” Yang said. She moved to step forward and out of the water, but the flash of golden light returned, and then she was a swan once more. The swan squawked, flapping her wings. 

“Yang?” Blake repeated hoarsely, bending down to the bird. Yang tentatively backed up into the water, and the light flashed once more. 

“Fuck.” Yang shook out her hair. “I can’t- Blake, I can’t leave the lake.” The panic in her voice crushed Blake’s heart. 

“I can come to you,” she said, stepping into the cold water. A chill went through her, but she grabbed Yang’s hand. “I’m here. I’m here.” Tears clouded her vision, and she wiped her face. “What happened?”

Yang’s face twisted. “Adam Taurus happened,” she growled. “He tried to stop me from courting you, and I refused, and then he started chanting, and then I was a bird.” Yang faltered. “I bit him on the leg, and then I flew out the window. I didn’t- I didn’t know where to go, and I found my way to the lake. I didn’t know what to do, but they’ve been very kind to me.”

“They?”

“The other swans. They’re not all cursed, but some of them are. I wasn’t the first. Adam’s done this before.” 

“Why aren’t they human right now?”

“I don’t- I don’t know. I hit him before he could finish the curse, though. Hex? Spell? I have no idea. I hit him, and then I was a bird, and then I bit him, and then I flew out the window.” Yang’s lip wobbled. “I flew out the window.”

Blake ran her hands up Yang’s arms. “We’ll figure this out,” she promised. “We’ll call a mage, and we’ll figure this out.” She took Yang into her embrace, and she held her as Yang shuddered against her. “We will figure this out, and Adam will pay.”

Yang drew back, but Blake kept her hands on her elbows. “Don’t leave,” she said. “Please don’t leave. I-I need a minute.”

“I’m not leaving you, Yang. I’m not.” Blake gently squeezed her arms. “I’ll stay with you. I’m not- I won’t leave you.” She nodded, more to herself than to Yang. “There should be a patrol of the lake soon, and we’ll send them to get my parents, and they can send for Ozpin, and we’ll figure this out. I promise you, we will figure this out.”

“But you won’t,” a familiar voice drawled, and Blake ran cold. 

She turned around, and Adam was holding a crossbow. “You!” she seethed, but she stiffened as he pointed the bow at her. Blake raised her chin, despite her pounding heart. “You can’t kill me.”

“No, but I can kill her,” he agreed, gesturing towards Yang. Blake stepped in front of Yang and shielded her with her body. Adam sighed. “Why must you make things difficult, your Highness?”

“Why did you curse the woman I love?”

Adam shrugged, still casually pointing the crossbow at them. “A man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do,” he said, stepping forward. “You would have never accepted my suit. Not with _her_ in the way.”

“And what’s keeping me from rejecting you now?”

He smirked. “I think you’ll do whatever I want to keep her safe.”

Blake bared her teeth. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“I think it’s obvious that I’ll do whatever I need to.” He jerked his chin. “Now, I’ll keep your precious _human_ alive. For now. So long as you’re good, Blake.”

“Good?” she repeated. She watched the arrowhead. It was pointed at her, but she knew he wouldn’t shoot her. He wouldn’t. She kept Yang behind her, and she threaded her fingers through Yang’s. Yang squeezed her hand, and something in her chest eased, even as her heart raced.

“I’d like my wife to be obedient,” he said. Her stomach churned. 

“You think I’ll accept your proposal? After this?”

Adam shrugged. “I think you’ll do whatever you need to in order to keep her alive. And I’m the only one that knows how to turn her back. If you want the Lady of Patch to resume her human form permanently, you will marry me, _your Highness_ ,” he sneered. 

Her mind raced. “Blake, don’t,” Yang murmured in her ear. Blake squeezed her hand. 

“You don’t lay a finger on Yang.”

“I promise, so long as you obey, I will not hurt her.” He slung the crossbow over his back. “Marry me, and after our wedding, I will turn her back. Provided, of course, she allows me to enchant her to never breathe a word of what has happened.”

“No. She goes back to Patch, safe and unharmed.”

Adam tutted. “Then what keeps her from turning me in?”

“I’m not coming up with your blackmail for you,” she snarled. “Figure it out. But you don’t touch her.”

“We’ll work out the details later,” he dismissed with a wave of his hand. “But for now, you will obey me. You will say yes to my proposal, and you will marry me.”

“We court for a year and a day. Then you propose.”

“Buying yourself time?”

“It’s tradition. A year and a day of courtship, and then you propose.”

Adam shrugged. “As you wish, your Highness.” He smirked. “But if you step a toe out of line, I’ll kill her. I swear it.”

Blake raised her chin. “You kill her, and you lose your hold over me.”

“Don’t make me kill her, then.” He gave her an exaggerated bow. “Don’t stay out too late, your Highness. I want to see you well-rested tomorrow.”

“Fuck off,” Yang spat. 

Adam raised his brows. “I’ll see you tomorrow, your Highness. And I suppose we’ll see you as well, my Lady.”

He backed off into the night, and Blake didn’t move from in front of Yang until she could no longer hear his footsteps. Her chest rose and fell, and she tightened her grip around Yang’s hand. A shudder went through her.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” Yang said in her ear. “I’m not worth it. You have Menagerie to think of. Your country deserves a better ruler than him.”

Blake kept her eyes fixed on the treeline, not daring to turn around and face her. “I’ll deal with it,” she said. “I’m not letting him hurt you. He’s not getting away with this.”

“I’d rather stay a swan forever than have him marry you.”

Blake shook her head. “Don’t say that.”

“I mean it. And I’m not just saying that because I love you. He’s a spiteful bastard, and his idea of justice is cruelty. You need someone who will support you, not fight you.” Yang sucked in a breath. “This isn’t so bad, Blake. You can go to Ozpin, and your parents, and tell them what happened. I don’t care if I stay like this forever. You cannot let him win.”

“I’m not!” She turned around, looking up at Yang. “We have a year to figure this out. I’ll come up with a plan. He’s not going to win. I promise you, I won’t let him.” She tentatively brushed a hand onto Yang’s face. “But I won’t let him hurt you.”

Yang lowered her gaze. “But you can’t let him hurt you, either,” she said. “You don’t get to sacrifice your country and your safety. Not for me.”

“I’m not. I just- I need time to plan.” She squared her shoulders. “But for now, for now I just want to make sure you’re alright. Do you need anything? Are you hungry?”

Yang shook her head. “I’m fine,” she insisted. “I’ve been mostly worried about you.” 

Blake slumped in Yang’s arms. “I was so worried about you,” she said. She stiffened. “What do you want me to tell your sister?”

Yang sighed. “Don’t tell her anything,” she said after a moment. “I don’t- I don’t want to give her hope.”

“She could come visit you with me,” Blake said. 

“I need to think about Patch. My dad is going to need help, and Ruby can’t stay here, and I can’t leave. If she knows that I’m stuck here, she won’t leave. I don’t- I can’t give her hope.” 

“But-”

“Blake, please. Don’t tell her.”

Blake nodded. “I won’t tell her,” she said softly. “Would it be okay if I told Weiss and Ilia? Weiss can do research in Atlas, out of Adam’s reach, and she won’t tell Ruby. Neither will Ilia. I’ll make them promise.”

Yang nodded. “If you’re sure,” she said. “I don’t want you to endanger yourself.”

“I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You can’t worry about me. You have to worry about Adam and Menagerie.”

“I’m allowed to worry about you,” she said. “I’m not going to let him get away with this. I promise you, Yang, I will fix this.”

“Focus on preventing him from becoming King first. Worry about me later.” Yang rubbed Blake’s arms. “Weiss can research to undo the curse, but, if it comes down to it, you cannot marry him. Promise me, Blake. Promise me you won’t marry him.”

Blake averted her eyes. “I promise.”

Brothers, she was bad at lying.

Yang sighed. “Menagerie comes first. Then you. I come last.”

Blake shook her head. “I care more about you than I care about me.”

“But you need to care most about Menagerie,” she said. “And I know you do. You can’t let him hurt your country.” Yang brushed Blake’s hair behind her ears. “I’ll be okay.”

Tears blurred her vision. “I’m not going to let him get away with this.”

“I know. I know.” Yang took Blake into her arms and held her tight as sobs became to rack her body. Blake choked out tears, shuddering against Yang. “It’ll be okay. It’ll all be okay, Blake.” Blake could feel Yang’s tears leaking onto her shoulder.

She tightened her arms around Yang. “We’re not going to let him win,” she whispered.

* * *

Blake stayed with Yang until morning. When the sun rose, the flash of light returned, and Yang was a swan once more. Blake had cried then, and Yang nuzzled her hand with her head. Her feathers were smooth and silky soft, and Blake found herself gently stroking the top of Yang’s head.

“I need to go back now,” she said hoarsely. Yang nodded. Tears clouded her vision once more. “I’m so sorry.”

Yang shook her head, but Blake ran her fingers down her neck. “I love you,” she said. “I’ll be back tonight. I promise.”

She forced herself to stand and get up. Walking away from Yang was the hardest thing she had ever done. Blake was sure she looked a mess. Her dress was wet and muddy, and her face was likely red and tear stained. She was up early enough that there were few people milling about, and she shuffled through the corridors of the palace back to her rooms. 

“Your Highness, are you alright?” one of her guards asked. 

“Fine,” she croaked. “Please send for my lady’s maids.”

The guards saluted, and she entered her room. She managed to get mostly out of her dress when her ladies knocked. “Come in!” she called, struggling with the lacing of her corset. 

“Your Highness, you should have waited for us,” Velvet clucked, moving quickly to undo the laces. 

Blake shrugged. “I just needed to get out of this dress.” It was heavy and wet, and she was shivering. 

“Were you out all night?” Coco asked, examining the skirts Blake had already discarded. “You’ll be lucky if these stains come out.”

Blake cracked a smile at Coco’s usual abrasiveness. “I was by the lake. I must’ve fallen asleep,” she lied.

“We need to get you into a bath right away,” Velvet declared, spinning around to fill the tub with water. Running water was still new to much of Menagerie, but Blake had never been so happy to have it. “You must be freezing!”

Blake nodded, half listening. “It was rather chilly,” she said, stepping into the tub. The warm water burned her toes, but she didn’t care. She sat down and let the steaming water fill her bones with heat as Velvet and Coco set her room to rights. “What time is it?”

“Just half past six now,” Coco said. “Do you want to head back to, er, head to bed?”

Blake shook her head. “I have breakfast with Princess Weiss and Lady Ilia at eight. Might as well stay up.” She scrubbed at her skin with the soap before washing her hair. The water was vaguely scalding, and her skin was bright and pink. “Can you get the blue dress out? The one without the beading?”

“Of course, your Highness,” Coco said. “I started work on some new dresses, as well. They should be ready within a week or two.”

“Thank you, Coco.” She stretched out of the water and grabbed her towel, patting herself dry before getting into her undergarments. “Velvet, can you help me with my corset?”

“Of course.” Velvet got behind her, and Blake grunted as she pulled tight. “Sorry, your Highness.”

“It’s fine,” she wheezed. “It feels better when it’s tight.”

Velvet made quick work of her corset, and then Coco was there to slip her into her blue dress. The material was soft and silky against her skin, almost akin to Yang’s feathers. Her heart lurched, and she closed her eyes. 

“Are you alright?” Velvet asked softly.

Blake forced herself to nod. “Just concerned about Lady Yang,” she said, straightening her shoulders. 

“You two were close,” Coco said.

“Are close,” Blake corrected, mouth dry. “We are close.”

“Of course.” 

She ignored the glance Coco and Velvet exchanged. “Can one of you run to Duke Taurus and tell him to meet me in the gardens at noon?”

They exchanged another glance, and Coco sighed. “I’ll go now,” she said. 

“Thank you, Coco.” Still, her stomach churned at the thought of sending another either of her servants to Adam. “You can just pass the message to one of his servants.”

“Thank you, your Highness,” Coco breathed, and then she was out the door.

Velvet started brushing through Blake’s hair. “Are you sure you’re alright, your Highness?” she asked softly. “It’s okay to not be alright.”

Blake nodded. “Just tired. Apparently sleeping half in a lake is not the most restful. Who could’ve known?” Her joke fell flat, and she cleared her throat. “But thank you, Velvet. For checking in. I deeply appreciate it.”

“Of course.”

Velvet started braiding Blake’s hair, and Blake closed her eyes to the familiar soothing sensation. Velvet was very talented, and she knew how to accommodate Blake’s ears in her hairstyle, likely from years of practice with her own hair. Either way, Blake appreciated it. 

It took Velvet a matter of minutes to finish the complex series of braids, and Blake gazed at herself in the mirror. They were the braids of a courted woman, and she hated them, even though they were beautiful. Velvet did beautiful work, but, Brothers, she hated what they represented. She hated that she wore them for Adam.

“All done,” Velvet said softly. “You look lovely, your Highness.” She gently squeezed Blake’s shoulder. 

Blake smiled at her in the mirror. It was a tight smile, one she barely felt, but Velvet was kind, and she deserved her thanks. “Thank you.” She stood up and smoothed her skirts. “I think I’m going to wait for Princess Weiss and Lady Ilia here and read until they arrive.” 

“Of course, your Highness.”

Blake moved to her couch while Velvet set up the other part of her chamber for Weiss’s and Ilia’s arrival. She picked up her book, and she tried to read, she did. Her eyes glanced over the pages, but they glazed over, and she couldn’t focus. All she could think about was Yang. Yang, who was stuck as a swan. 

She almost laughed at the situation. It was ridiculous, and yet she couldn’t do a damn thing about it. She was at Adam’s mercy.

Blake shook her head. Not for long. Weiss would go to Atlas, and she would get answers, and they would take Adam down. She could weather the storm until she got the answers she needed, they needed. She could hold Adam off until then. 

There was a knock at the door, Velvet let Weiss and Ilia in before bowing out gracefully. Blake put her book down and moved to the table. 

“How are you doing?” Ilia asked as she sat. “Weiss told me what happened.”

She ducked her gaze. “I have some bad news.”

“What’s happened now?” Weiss asked, reaching over the table to grab Blake’s hand. “You look exhausted.”

“I found Yang.”

“Where is she?”

Blake’s lip wobbled. “Adam turned her into a swan.”

Silence. And then-

“You’re joking, right?” Ilia said. “Please say you’re joking.”

“I’m afraid not.” She forced her voice to stillness. “He cursed Yang, and he knows I know. I found her last night. She’s a swan on the lake, and she turned back when the sun set, but Adam found us. He threatened to hurt Yang if I don’t listen to him.”

“But you can’t listen to him,” Ilia said, reaching for Blake’s other hand. “You can’t.”

“I know, but I won’t let him hurt her. I won’t.” She shook her head. “I need your help.”

“What do you need?” Weiss asked.

“I need you to look into breaking curses.”

More silence.

Weiss sighed. “I was always awful at magic,” she groaned, rubbing her temples. “But I’ll find something. Winter had to deal with a series of curses a few years ago, she might be able to help. But they’re tricky.”

“I know. But please, anything you can find would be helpful. I only have a year before he proposes.”

Ilia blanched. “And you’re going to say yes?”

“I don’t have a choice.”

“Blake, you can’t marry him.”

“I don’t plan on it, but I have to play along until we rescue Yang.” She sipped at her tea. “I have to act like he’s beaten me. But I need you, Weiss, to do as much research as you can on curses and breaking them.”

“What do you need from me?” Ilia asked.

“As much information on Adam as you can find. Anything and everything.”

“You’re asking me to spy for you?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. Blake nodded, somewhat sheepish. “Cool.” Ilia cracked a grim smile. “I’ll dig up dirt on that son of a bitch, don’t you worry, Blake. I’ll send some people to his estate and see what they can discover. And I’ll watch Adam myself.”

Blake bit her lip. “Be careful,” she said finally. She didn’t want to put her friends in danger, but she needed their help. 

Ilia nodded, squeezing her hand. “Of course.” Her face hardened. “We won’t let him rule, Blake. We won’t let him get away with this.”

“You got that right,” Weiss agreed. 

Blake nodded, taking a deep breath. “Alright. We have a lot of work to do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! No idea when I'll update next, I have an essay due in two days but that's obviously not a priority of mine right now... :))))))


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everybody! Remember that angst I was debating? HAVE SOME.

“How did you sleep, Adam?” Blake asked stiffly. He had collected her not a second after Weiss and Ilia had left, and his hands had not left her arm. She hated the way she could feel every divet of his fingerprints in her skin, and she presumed she would have bruises later. 

“Well enough, your Highness,” he said. She tried walking faster, but he held her close to his side. His one hand clutched her hip and squeezed, and Blake did her best to not yelp. She stopped trying to speed ahead, hating herself as she leaned back into his touch. From far away, they probably looked like a happy couple. 

If only.

“How did you sleep?” Adam asked. There was a sharpness to his voice, like he knew she hadn’t slept. He probably did. It wasn’t exactly a secret that she hadn’t returned to the palace last night. Her parents would likely talk to her about it later, but she would tell them what she had told Velvet and Coco. Brothers, she hated lying.

“Well enough,” she repeated, turning to bend down to smell a flower. It was a soft and vibrant purple, and Blake’s stomach clenched at the sight. It was close to the color of Yang’s eyes, and it made her ache.

Adam pulled her away, jostling her off her feet and into his arms. “Clumsy,” he said, eyes glinting. She hated that she could feel his heart beating beneath his skin and his breath on her collarbones. She stared into his eyes, pursing her lips. He held her tight to him for a moment before releasing. “You would do well to watch your step, your Highness.”

She gritted her teeth. “Thank you for the advice,” Blake said. “But I think I’ll manage.”

Adam shrugged. “Of course.” 

Keeping her voice low and pleasant, she asked, “So what exactly do you want to do with me?” _What’s your plan?_

“Isn’t it obvious?” he asked, voice similarly pleasant. “You’re going to be my Queen.”

Her stomach tightened at the thought. “You are going to be my King,” she corrected.

“Semantics.” His voice had an edge to it. He didn’t like that. Good.

“And how, exactly, do you plan on keeping me obedient and _good_?” she asked. 

“You’ll just have to find out, your Highness.” He squeezed her hip in warning. Blake ignored it. “I’d hate to ruin the surprise.”

“I told you, you hurt Yang, this courtship is off,” she said calmly.

“You seem to forget, my love, which of us holds all the cards here.” 

“You underestimate my hand.”

“Oh, I’m sure,” he said. “But you’re the one that has to convince me to turn the Lady of Patch back and not kill her. I told you last night, if you want her unharmed, you have to listen.” Another squeeze. “And I want you to kiss me.”

“What? No.”

He tutted, turning to face her. His face was cast half in shadow, and he smiled at her. It was as sharp as a knife. “Kiss me,” he repeated, bringing her to a halt. 

She studied him. Her heart was racing, and fury flashed through her. “Why?”

“I don’t have to explain myself. You, however, have to listen.” His smile sharpened. “And what man wouldn’t want the beautiful woman on his arm to kiss him?”

He was getting off on this, wasn’t he?

Blake narrowed her eyes. “Tradition dictates that kisses not be shared until a month of courtship,” she tried. “And you like tradition, don’t you?” She had heard enough of his proposals to know his position on tradition. 

He cocked his head. “I like you more.”

No, he liked the power he had over her more.

Blake lifted her chin. “It would be improper,” she said. 

“Then let’s be improper.” His lips dove down to meet hers, and she slammed her hands up against his chest, just barely stopping him. He cocked a brow. “Do you really want to do that?” he warned. His eyes sparkled. He _liked_ this. 

Blake closed her eyes, and she lifted herself onto her toes to gently press a kiss onto his cheek. Her lips revolted at the touch, but she could feel his grin as she pulled away. She opened her eyes, and she stared him down as she barely resisted the urge to wipe her lips with the back of her hand. “I am not kissing you until we are married,” she said flatly. Her first kiss was for Yang, and, Brothers help her, she would give it to her. 

Adam smirked. “I can wait.” His eyes traced her body up and down, and she could feel his gaze cupping her curves. “That won’t be the only thing we do once we’re married.” She bit her tongue as fury colored her cheeks. He brushed a stray hair behind her ear, cupping her cheek. “You’re beautiful like this.”

“Like what?” she bit.

He cocked his head. “Angry. Indignant. _Helpless_. It’s enticing.”

She jerked her face out of his hands and took a step back. Her hand itched to collide with his face. “You’re horrible,” she hissed, straightening back up. Blake turned to stalk ahead, but he grabbed her hand and pulled her back into his arms. Blake raised her chin and looked at him. “I thought you wanted to smell the flowers?”

“I want,” he growled, “you to listen.”

Blake clenched her teeth. “I am Crown Princess Blake Belladonna of Menagerie, first of her name, daughter to King Ghira and Queen Kali. You don’t get to talk to me like that.” She never, ever used her royal voice, never pulled that card, but he pulled out the worst in her. “If you’re going to marry me, you’re going to respect me.”

“No, you’re going to respect _me_.” He stepped closer to her, lording down. “This isn’t a two way street, _princess_ , and you don’t get to order me around. I’ll talk to you however I damn please, and you can’t do a thing about it.” He smirked. “You don’t have the power here.”

She glared up at him. “If you want my respect, you can kiss my ass.”

Adam dropped to his knees and held her hand. “I love you, your Highness,” he said, face open and soft. “I love you, _Blake_. Let me love you.”

The words twisted something open inside her, and she staggered backwards. “You heard,” she breathed, hands hovering above the bush behind her. 

Adam stood up, stepping closer. “I heard,” he said. “And I can be that man. I can love you better than that _human_ ever could. I would worship you, my love. I would take care of you, like I will take care of Menagerie. We don’t have to fight.” His eyes were bright. “We could rule Menagerie together. As a team.”

Her stomach sank, and she could only look at him in horror. “You turned the woman I love into a swan, and now you want me to love you?”

He shrugged. “I think you’ll like me better if you do.” The threat in his voice was clear. “Make this easy, my love.”

Her skin prickled. Her breath was short. “What do you want me to say?” she asked, voice barely above a whisper. 

Adam smiled. She winced as he moved one of her curls from behind her back to over her shoulder. “Now that’s a good girl,” he said, gently pulling on her hair. “Make this easy, princess. For the both of us.”

Blake clenched her jaw. “I love you.”

“No, you don’t. But good start.” He patted her cheek. “Keep it up.”

* * *

Blake went back to her chambers and washed out her mouth until she couldn’t feel his skin against her lips and she couldn’t taste the words in her mouth anymore. She stood over the basin, bracing herself against the cool stone as she heaved over the sink. Her breath was short in her chest, and she closed her eyes. 

“Your Highness?” Velvet asked from behind her. “Are you alright?”

Blake bit her tongue before sighing. “I’ll be fine,” she said. She stared into the basin. “Can you fetch my cloak, please, Velvet?”

“Of course.” Velvet draped the heavy cloth over her shoulders, and Blake straightened up, tying the collar. “Do you need anything?”

“Can you bring dinner to me in two hours?” she asked, shoving some bread into her pockets. “I’m off to feed the swans.”

Velvet blinked at her before nodding. “Of course, your Highness.” She bowed at Blake, and Blake left her chambers as quickly as she could.

“And where are you going, your Highness?” a familiar voice drawled, and Blake froze. She turned around to face Adam, who was leaning against the wall.

“To the gardens,” she said. “Did you need something?”

“I thought I would surprise you with an early dinner.” He cocked his head. “Care to join me?”

Blake threw a look out the window. She had about a half hour before sunset. Her shoulders longed to slump, but she kept her posture straight. “I would love nothing more,” she said. He smiled at her. His teeth were glossy.

“I thought as much.” He cocked his head. “May I come in?”

She nodded, opening the door to her chamber once more. “Please do,” she said, gesturing for him to go first. He went in, and she followed.

“Velvet, could you please get dinner for two? I have an unexpected visitor,” she called, slinging her cloak over her chair before sitting. 

Velvet nodded, nervously looking between her and Adam. “I’ll be right back, then,” she said, bowing out. 

And then they were alone.

She felt his eyes on her, and she shivered. “Would you like some water, Adam?” she asked stiffly. 

“That would be nice.”

Blake stood up and grabbed two glasses from her table before pouring water into both of them. Her hands were shaking ever so slightly, and she clenched her hands around the glasses as she served Adam. She sat down, taking a sip of her water. 

She was all too aware of the setting sun. Velvet would be back soon, and then she would be on her way. 

“Were you going to visit our mutual friend tonight?” Adam asked, taking a drink of his water.

Blake raised her chin. “I thought it would be kind.”

Adam shook his head, and he leaned over the table. “And what would you say if I didn’t want you to visit her anymore?”

Her stomach rolled. She gritted her teeth. “I would ask you to reconsider,” she said, keeping her voice soft. “I was planning on bringing her food and then leaving.”

“I could bring her food,” Adam said. His eyes glimmered. “Would that satisfy you?”

“What if we went together?” she suggested. Brothers, where was Velvet? “A happy compromise.”

Adam smiled, but there was no life in it. “Indeed.” He shrugged. “Why not.” His eyes flicked up towards hers. “If you’re going to visit her, you should let me know first. So I can accompany you, of course.”

Blake sharpened her smile. “Of course,” she gritted. “I would love nothing more.”

“Good.” He raised a brow. “What are your plans for tomorrow?”

“I have a meeting with my parents for most of the afternoon.”

Adam nodded. “And in the morning?”

“I was planning on seeing Princess Weiss off.”

“Oh, she’s leaving?”

“Her sister needs her back in Atlas,” she explained. Weiss had agreed to go home early to start research, although she had been reticent to leave Blake. Blake had only been able to convince her by telling her she was of more use to her in Atlas than she was in Menagerie. As much as she wanted her friend with her, she wanted everyone she cared about as far away from Adam as possible.

Before Adam could respond, Velvet burst in. “Sorry for the lateness!” Velvet stumbled, placing plates in front of them. “There was an accident in the stairwell.”

“Of course, Velvet. Don’t worry about it,” she said. Adam sent her a dark look as Velvet bowed out.

“She took a long time.”

“It wasn’t her fault.”

“You don’t punish your servants?”

“Like I said, it wasn’t her fault.” Her stomach sank. “Why would I ever punish her?”

“Because she deserved it.”

“No, she didn’t.”

Adam shrugged, taking a deep drink out of his glass. “Of course not, my love.” His voice was hard. “We need to get this castle into shape.”

Her stomach twisted. “The palace is fine,” she said, ears sagging. “What do you mean?”

“It’s so… disorderly.” He tapped his fingers against his glass. “There needs to be stricter regulations on the servants. And, of course, the Faunus must be separated from the humans.” He raised his eyes. “Don’t you agree?”

She bought herself time by taking a drink. “It doesn’t matter what I think,” she said carefully. “I am the princess. My father makes the laws, and we obey them. Don’t we?” 

“Of course,” Adam agreed. “But perhaps the laws should change. When we make the laws.”

“That’s years away,” she said.

Adam smiled. “For now.”

She went cold. “My parents are hale and healthy, and I’m not of age for another eight years.” Although Atlesians came of age at twenty five, the throne of Menagerie was inherited when the Crown Prince or Princess turned twenty eight. It gave her more time to mature, more time to learn the ropes. 

“Let’s hope they stay that way,” he said casually. 

Blake closed her eyes. “I can only pray they do.”

They ate their dinner in silence, the only noise was scrapings of silverware against their plates. She felt Adam looking at her, but she kept her gaze focused on her dish. She finished her meal quickly, even though Adam dragged out every bite of his. 

“Do you still want to go to the lake?” Adam asked finally.

“Yes.” She delicately wiped her mouth with her napkin and smoothed her skirts as she stood. 

“Let me help you with your cloak,” he said, rising quickly. Blake stiffened as he draped the cloak around her and tied the collar. His fingers linger against her collarbones before he pulled away. 

“And what do we say?”

She swallowed her fury. “Thank you.” She could weather him. For Yang, she would deal with him touching her and she would feed him the lies he wanted to hear. She would rescue Yang, and then they would send Adam straight to Hell. 

Adam grinned at her. “Of course, my love.” He shouldered his own cloak before wrapping his hand around her waist once more. She gritted her teeth and forced a smile as they walked out. “Isn’t this so much better?”

“Of course,” she said bleakly. “So much better.” Either Adam didn’t catch her tone, or he was ignoring it. Good. 

They walked in silence through the gardens and the woods lining the lake. Adam was humming as they walked. Every step felt simultaneously heavy and light; she couldn’t wait to see Yang, but not like this. Not with him. 

She spotted the golden head of hair through the break in the trees, and her heart leapt at the sight. “Easy,” Adam murmured, bringing her back to reality. Blake nodded, biting her tongue. 

They walked slowly towards Yang, and, as the Lady of Patch turned, her face fell. “What’re you doing here?” she growled. 

“Relax, Blondie,” Adam said. 

Blake’s eyes flashed, but she subtly shook her head at Yang. “We’ve brought food.”

Yang nodded at her before sighing. “It’s good to see you,” she said as Blake stepped forward. “I was getting worried.” Yang’s voice was light, but Blake could hear the questions in her tone. 

“We were eating dinner,” she said hoarsely, standing on the shoreline. She could feel Adam staring at her. She reached into her pockets and pulled out the bread. “I brought you some food.”

Yang raised an eyebrow as she took the bread. “I still eat people food, you know,” she said lightly, but she ripped into the loaf anyway. 

“I thought you could share it,” she said, extending the other loaf. “I was planning on getting here before sunset, but I forgot about dinner.” She smiled tightly. Yang’s eyes softened. 

“Are you okay?” she asked quietly.

“I’m fine,” she assured. She wanted to reach out and grab Yang’s hand, but she had the feeling Adam wouldn’t like that. So she crossed her arms and held herself against the chill. “Do you want me to bring you a cloak tomorrow?”

“That would be nice,” Yang said. “This dress isn’t exactly the warmest.” She gestured towards her ballgown, which was in tatters. 

Adam cleared his throat, and Blake winced. She forced a smile she didn’t feel for Yang, just so she would know that Blake was alright. Even if she wasn’t sure if she was. “I’ll be back tomorrow with a cloak, then.” She had plenty of extras, and no one would notice if one went missing.

Yang’s face fell, but she nodded. “I look forward to it,” she said. “Thank you for this.” 

“Of course.” Tears heated her eyes, but she forced herself to swallow them. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” she promised, drawing back. She wanted to hold Yang in her arms, she wanted to scream and sob and tell her everything that had happened, but she couldn’t. Not with Adam there. And they all knew it.

She turned around and went back into Adam’s arms. “Until tomorrow,” he called as he guided her back into the forest. 

Until tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Also:  
> ~Adam Taurus is a dick and burning in Hell~


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back, everybody! Happy Friday! Long chapter today, because, like I've said previously, I HAVE NO SELF CONTROL.

“Are you sure you want me to leave?” Weiss asked for the hundredth time, sitting perfectly straight in the carriage even as her brow furrowed. 

“I’m sure,” she said, clasping her hands. “You need to get back to Winter, and you’re more help to me in Atlas than you are here. I need someone out of his reach.”

“Still, it feels wrong to leave you with _him_.” Weiss’s face twisted. 

“I have Ilia, and I have Yang. I will be fine,” she said, even as her stomach churned. She tucked her stray hairs behind her ears. “Thank you for doing this for me.”

Weiss scoffed. “Don’t thank me yet,” she said. “Thank me when I find a solution.” 

“I’m thanking you because you’re helping me,” she replied. “Accept it.”

“If I must,” Weiss sighed. 

“Really, Weiss. Thank you.”

Weiss shrugged. “We can’t let that bastard rule Menagerie.” She made it sound so simple. “I’m here for you. We’re not going to let him ruin all your parent’s and your hard work. And we’re definitely not going to let him get away with what he’s done to Yang.” Weiss reached over and squeezed her hands. “We’re going to take him down.”

“I know.” She squeezed back, but it was half-hearted. “I know.”

The carriage came to a stop. Weiss suddenly moved to hug Blake. Blake startled, but she hugged her back. “Take care of yourself,” Weiss said in her ear. Blake nodded, holding her tight. “I’ll write once I find something.”

“Write when you get home. I want to know how your journey went. I want to know you’re safe.” She tightened her grasp before releasing her friend. Her eyes were hot. 

“As long as you write me. Keep me updated, Blake. I need to know you’re okay.” Weiss’s face was still as stone and twice as serious. “Promise me you’ll write.”

She nodded, throat thick. “I promise.” An easy oath to keep. Hopefully.

Weiss studied her before sighing. “I’ll see you in Atlas soon enough.” 

“I can’t wait,” she said. “Just another few months.” Hopefully by then Adam would be dealt with, and she and Yang could both go. What was she going to do if they didn’t have a solution by then? She couldn’t very well leave Yang alone, but she had to go. It would look bad if the princess of Menagerie refused to attend the Queen of Atlas’s coronation. 

Blake brushed the thoughts aside. Problems for another day, she decided. 

She watched as Weiss left the carriage, and then they were off once more. She sighed, letting herself slouch against the padded wall as they bumped along. Back to the palace. Back to Adam. 

Her fingers traced the velvet of the cushions, and she took a deep breath. She should revel in this. Revel in the moments without Adam, revel in not having him breathing down her neck, revel in this freedom. But the further she was from the palace, the further she was from Yang. There was no one protecting her when Blake was out. 

Her stomach clenched. Adam wouldn’t hurt Yang. Not while she was _good_. The word was bitter, even in her mind, and she wanted to spit it out and onto his face. But she couldn’t. Not while he held the cards. 

Blake took a deep breath. He wouldn’t have the upper hand for long. She swore it. 

* * *

“Are you ready to go, my love?” 

Blake nodded, shoving the loaf of bread she had preemptively wrapped in paper into her cloak’s pockets. “Ready,” she said, and Adam’s arm slung around her waist once more. They walked through the woods as the sun set, and she shivered from the wind chill. Even though spring was on its way, it was still far too cold for her tastes. 

Her pale blue cloak was draped over her arm, and she was grateful for the extra warmth. She had no idea how Yang had survived the cold the past few nights, but she would fix that now. Guilt twisted in her stomach. She should have thought of the cold, should have remembered the chill of that first night, but it had completely slipped her mind.

Her heart raced as she spotted the glowing head of golden hair, and she wanted to run ahead and make sure Yang was okay. Blake wanted to race out of Adam’s arms and into Yang’s and hold her until she felt steady again. She gritted her teeth and forced herself to stay by Adam’s side as they cleared the treeline. His hand tightened around her waist as they approached Yang, but he let her move forward and greet Yang by herself. He was only a few steps away, but it allowed her enough space to breathe.

“Your Highness,” Yang said, lips quirking upwards. “What did you bring me today?” Her voice was forcibly light, Blake could hear it, but she was trying. Blake could see the shivers running through her, the pained look in her eyes. This wasn’t easy for Yang. Not at all. She took a deep breath. She would fix this. She would.

“More bread.” She handed the wrapped loaf to Yang, pressing it into her hands. Her fingers wanted to linger, wanted to stroke the warmth back into Yang’s cold hands, but she forced herself to draw away. “We’ll be by with some actual food tomorrow.” She smiled, and it wasn’t faked. “Here is the cloak I promised.”

Yang accepted the heavy cloak with a raised brow, but she didn’t question it. “Thank you, Blake,” she said softly. Yang swept the cloak over her shoulders and brushed her hair out from underneath her collar. Something stirred in Blake’s stomach from seeing Yang in her clothes. The cloak was short on Yang, but it would be more than warm enough for her. “You didn’t have to do this.”

“Of course I did.” 

Yang looked over Blake’s shoulder and sighed, her shoulders slumping. Such a defeated posture looked wrong on her. Yang was meant to be standing proud and strong, with a giant grin on her beautiful face and a crown on her head. She deserved it. Seeing her like this, in a tattered dress and shivering and full of fruitless fury, was wrong. It was so wrong. “Thank you.”

Blake straightened her posture and flexed her fingers. “Of course. I’ll see you tomorrow.” She drew back, heart racing. She went back into Adam’s arms, sending Yang a look over her shoulder. She threw her a smile at her before turning back to Adam and laying her head on his shoulder. He looked at her in surprise, but she didn’t move it. Even though she wanted to. He hummed, and he brought her closer into him. 

They walked back in silence, but her heart wouldn’t quit its shaky dance in her chest. She could only hope that Yang would get her message, that she would check the bread’s paper to see the small _I love you_ Blake had written, that she would check the cloak’s pockets and find the explanation she had penned alongside their plan. Well, what little plan she had conceived, anyway. It was better than nothing, and she owed Yang that much. 

She owed her so much more than that, but it was all she could give.

* * *

Adam came for breakfast the next day. And the next, and the next, and the next. A month had never dragged so slowly before. They ate the majority of their meals together. They brought food to Yang every night together. They walked through the gardens together. It was killing her. Every minute spent with him was a minute she wasn’t working to save Yang.

“I’m sorry to see you go,” Blake said, lifting her chin. She had gotten better at lying, although not by much. 

His men were already saddled, but Adam was holding her hand. “It’s just a month, my love,” he said, brushing her hair out of her face. “I’ll be back before you know it.” His hand cupped her face and gently squeezed. She winced at the sudden ache, but his grasp loosened. He smiled at her. “Don’t forget it,” he murmured.

“I won’t,” she said, lowering her gaze. He kissed the top of her forehead. Her hands curled into fists, her nails digging into her palms. She closed her eyes. 

His hand cupped her chin and lifted her eyes to meet his. “Take care,” he said. She couldn’t help the lightness in her chest as he saddled his horse. He stared at her before taking off.

She watched him until he was only a speck on the horizons. She had a week. A week out from under his thumb, a week to breathe. He would come back for the Council meeting, but she would be ready for him. Blake squared her shoulders and went inside. She had a lot of work to do.

But first, Yang.

She packed a basket of food before leaving for the lake, notebook in hand. Sunset was an hour off, but that was alright. She wanted to savour every second they had together. They would have a quiet meal, all to themselves. She could explain everything in person, and they could talk, and Adam would be miles away by nightfall. 

Blake set up her blanket on the edge of the shore, one corner rising and falling with the coming tide. Yang could sit there at sunset, and they could pretend that they were a normal courting couple for five seconds. She left the food in her basket, instead reaching for her notebook and ink. 

She had just started when a swan broke off from its pack to swim towards her. Blake smiled, inching closer to the water as Yang drifted closer. She reached into her basket and took out some lettuce, extending her hand. Yang nibbled on it before coming ashore and sitting besides Blake, her head in her lap. 

Blake gently stroked her soft head. “He’s gone,” she whispered. “We have a month. I have work to do, but I wanted to be here.” It was weird talking outloud when Yang couldn’t respond, but she forced herself to do it. “I hope you don’t mind.”

She rested her notebook on her opposite thigh and leaned over to write. “I have so much to tell you,” she said softly, brow furrowing as she started to write. “But I’ll save that for sundown.” Yang nudged her elbow, and Blake laughed. “Patience!” She sighed. “You’re not going to want to hear all of it, anyway.” 

Yang brushed up against her again. They stayed like that for the hour, Blake working and Yang half in her lap. When the sun finally dipped below the trees, Yang waddled into the water, and, in that familiar flash of golden light, she was back. Blake dropped her notebook and ran into the water, not caring that her dress got wet. “I’ve missed you so much,” she breathed into her ear, holding her tight. 

Yang stiffened against her before wrapping her strong arms around Blake’s back. “I’ve missed you too,” she said. There was a shakiness to Yang’s voice that made Blake hesitate. “I’ve been so worried-” Yang’s breath caught, and Blake was holding her up. Yang pushed back out of her arms, leaning her forehead against Blake’s. 

“I brought dinner,” Blake said, her eyes hot. “Can we eat first? I just- I want five minutes with you without all this craziness.”

Yang nodded. They sat down, their skirts flowing around them. Blake opened her basket and brought out the dried meat and cheeses. “I would have brought hot food, but I can do that tomorrow. I wanted to be here today,” she explained, piling Yang’s plate high before handing it off to her.

“Anything that’s not bread or lettuce or grass, I am thrilled with,” Yang said. 

They ate in silence. Blake reveled in simply being around Yang, in getting to see her and breathe her in. She drank Yang in, watching as she took bites of the food. “Anything interesting happen to you today?” she asked lightly.

Yang snorted. “They tried teaching me to fly today.” She jerked her head towards the other swans. “I’m shit at it, and they keep laughing at me.”

“In fairness to you, you just got wings a matter of days ago.”

“Yeah, but everyone else picked it up way faster.”

Blake’s brow furrowed. “Didn’t you fly already?”

“But I had adrenaline then. Now it’s just me.” Yang shrugged, pulling the cloak around her. “I’ll get the hang of it.”

“Hopefully you won’t have to.” Blake gave her a tentative smile, but it wobbled. “I think I have a plan.” Yang warily looked up at her. “You’re not going to like it, though.”

She told her.

Yang did not like it.

“No way, no way in Hell,” Yang protested. “I’m not letting you do that. Not for me.”

“I’ve thought about it, and it’ll work.”

“But there’s too big of a chance-”

“I know. Trust me, I know.” She bit her lip. “But it’ll work.” It _had_ to work. “It’s the best plan we’ve got.”

“Are there any plans that don’t put you in danger?”

“I’m not in danger.”

“Every second you’re with him, you’re in danger.”

“He’s not going to hurt me. If he’d hurt anyone, he’d hurt you. And I won’t allow him to do that, Yang. I won’t.”

Yang’s eyes flashed. “It’s killing me,” she said sharply. “Knowing that he’s with you, hurting you.”

“He’s not-”

“There’s more than one way to hurt a person, Blake.”

She swallowed thickly. “I love you,” she said quietly. “I would weather him for the rest of my life if it meant that you would be safe.”

“But you’re not going to.” Yang reached for her hands. “You owe Menagerie more than him. This plan, if it fails-”

“It’s not going to fail. It’s not.” She squeezed her hands. “This is our best shot.”

“You don’t have to do this,” Yang said. “We still have months before he proposes. We have months to come up with something else.”

“But the longer I’m under his thumb, the longer you’re suffering. The longer Menagerie is in danger. We need to nip this in the bud.” She straightened up. “My father is going to call a Council meeting next week, and Adam will be forced to come back. It’s the perfect time.”

“I don’t like this.”

“I know. I know.” She gave her a sad smile. “But this is our best shot.”

* * *

“The people of Vacuo need our help,” Duke Sun Wukong argued, his hands spread out on the table before him. “How can we not offer it when we are able to?”

“They provided aid during the last famine,” Duchess Amitola said stiffly. “It would be wrong to not help them. If they require aid, we must pledge it.”

“Vacuo did nothing when King Jacques executed countless Faunus for peaceful protest,” Adam pointed out. “They did nothing when he outlawed marriage for the Faunus. They did nothing when _our people_ were lynched in rural Atlas. They did nothing. And we should do the same.”

Blake cut him a look, but he paid her no heed. “King Jacques was overthrown, years ago, by the people with aid from Vacuo,” she said pointedly, raising her chin. “Without their help, Atlas would be now far less hospitable for our people. Their past should not matter, not when humans and Faunus are starving.”

His eyes darkened, and he opened his mouth to respond, but Duke Sun cut him off. “Exactly! Their past should not matter, but, if it does, Vacuo has treated our people the best out of the other kingdoms.”

“Your heritage creates a bias,” Adam snarled, and Duke Sun sputtered. 

“I am the only one on the Council that has ever visited Vacuo and seen the people’s lives there, I think I know what I am talking about,” he replied, crossing his arms. His eyes shifted to Blake, and he blushed. “Besides your Majesties and your Highness, of course.”

“It would also be a show of good faith,” Duke Amin cut in. “Aiding Vacuo would prove that we are benevolent. Mistral is still suspicious of our involvement with Lady Yang Xiao Long’s disappearance, and providing aid to another kingdom could help them believe we mean no harm.”

Blake’s knuckles turned white as she curled her hands around the edges of the arms of her chair. 

“My only concern would be establishing a pattern of giving,” Duke Lionheart mused. “We want to enter into mutually beneficial relationships with the other kingdoms, not into a parasitic one. We have the least natural resources, and we are still establishing new cities every day. Our resources should be conserved here.”

“But we wouldn’t be,” Duchess Amitola protested. “Vacuo sent aid during the famine, and, if anything, it would show we are capable of repaying the favor. Other kingdoms would be more likely to send aid when we need it, and we would be looked at more favorably for sending aid when we have no real obligation.”

“Have we forgotten that people are dying?” Blake snapped. “We have a duty to help.”

They all turned to her father, whose face was somber. He stroked his beard. “We will send aid to Vacuo,” he declared. Blake let out a sigh of relief as her mother squeezed Ghira’s forearm. “People need aid, and we are in a position to help. It is our duty.”

Adam slammed his hands down on the table. “They didn’t keep to their duty, why must we keep to ours?” he seethed.

Kali narrowed her eyes before Blake could respond. “We must be better,” she said calmly. “We must treat others the way we want to be treated. As we _all_ , Faunus or human, deserve to be treated.”

Adam’s eyes flashed, but he nodded. Blake could see the barely contained fury simmering just beneath the surface. “Of course. Forgive me, your Majesties,” he said stiffly. “I don’t know what came over me.”

Ghira nodded, but he was obviously frustrated with him. “So it’s settled, then. We will send aid to Vacuo.” Her father straightened up. “Does anyone have any other matters they would like to bring up before we adjourn?”

“How is the search for Lady Yang Xiao Long going?” Duke Amin asked. “My trading partners in Vale have been rather quiet. Have you been in contact with the Duke of Patch?”

Her father sighed. “We have no new leads,” he admitted. “But we are continuing the search, and we won’t stop until we find her. The Duke of Patch has fallen ill, but his younger daughter, Lady Ruby Rose, has assured us her family places no blame on us.”

“That doesn’t mean the rest of their country doesn’t,” Duchess Amitola pointed out. “We need to make amends.”

“There’s nothing to amend for,” Adam said coolly. 

Blake’s throat tightened. She kept her gaze on the table in front of her.

“A noble lady was kidnapped under our watch. At the very least, we have to prove to the other kingdoms that we are strong and capable,” Duke Amin said. “And it is our duty to accept the blame for her disappearance. We must make amends.”

“Let us reach out to King Jaune and Queen Pyrrha again,” Kali said gently. “We need to establish a stronger conversation, but once we do, we can move from there. We take the Lady of Patch’s disappearance very seriously, and we shoulder the blame.” Indeed, there were bags under the eyes of both her parents. Guilt twinged in her stomach, but she kept quiet. “Once we have their word, we shall act from there.”

“I will also reach out to Lady Ruby,” Blake volunteered. “See if Patch needs anything.” She had been meaning to write a letter to Ruby for weeks, but Adam had kept her plenty busy. And, if she was honest, she had been putting it off. She had no idea what she was going to say, but she needed to say _something_. 

Duke Amin studied her. “You were close with Lady Yang, weren’t you?”

Blake’s stomach curled, but she nodded. “We wrote each other often,” she said stiffly. “So I consider it my duty to ensure that her family is taken care of during these difficult times.”

Duke Amin nodded. “How kind of you.”

She could feel Adam’s glower on her, and she cleared her throat. “No matter what, we must take care to handle the situation carefully.”

“Agreed,” Adam said coolly. Blake tried her best not to wince. 

“We’ll reconvene next week,” Ghira said with a sigh. “Hopefully we will have more to report then.” Her parents stood up, and everyone followed suit. She turned to leave, but Duke Sun cornered her before she could slide out the door and back to her chambers.

“Thank you for supporting me,” he said, eyes bright. 

Blake nodded. “Of course,” she said, brow furrowed. “The people of Vacuo need our help.”

“Well, I appreciate it,” he said. “I know you’re not officially on the Council, but you really have Menagerie’s best interests at heart. It’s admirable.” He smiled dopily at her. 

She cleared her throat. “I’m still learning the ropes, but thank you.” 

“You’re already better at this than I am,” he said with a wink.

Blake laughed. It was a light and easy sound. She couldn’t remember the last time she had laughed. “You don’t seem to be doing a half bad job. Ruyi Jingu has flourished in the past few years.” Duke Sun wasn’t much older than her, but he had lost his parents in the plague that had swept the lands when she was in her teens. He had assumed his position young, and he was eccentric, but he was effective with a heart of gold.

He smiled at her as he shrugged. “I do my best,” he said. “It’s hard work, but it’s worth it.” His chest puffed with pride. 

“It is,” she agreed. She smiled and moved to pass him, but he opened his mouth.

“Would you like to grab breakfast tomorrow? Discuss more ways to help Vacuo tomorrow?” he asked. 

“You might want to meet with my parents,” she said gently. “I have no power on the Council, Duke Wukong.”

“I know, but I have some ideas I want to run by you.”

She blinked. “By me?” He nodded eagerly. “Why?”

His smile didn’t falter. “Because you care!” He lowered his voice slightly after realizing how loud his voice had gotten. “You care about the people.”

“Of course I do,” she said, brow furrowed. “It is my duty-”

“No, but that’s just it! Sorry for interrupting, your Highness,” he said quickly. “But it’s not your duty to care. It’s your duty to take care of the people, but you care about them. You care about people.” 

“I just don’t want anyone to get hurt,” she said.

“Exactly!” He smiled at her. “So, breakfast tomorrow?”

Blake sighed, letting out a small laugh. “Sure. That would be lovely.”

“I’ll see you then!” He sped off, and Blake followed after his dust trail out of the room. She moved down the corridor and headed to her rooms.

Her stomach twisted as she saw Adam waiting outside her room. “Your Highness,” he gritted, inclining his head. “Might I come in?”

“Of course,” she said, opening her door to let him in. He brushed past her furiously, and Blake held the door open. “Velvet, Coco, would you mind grabbing some tea for us?” They nodded, and then they were alone.

“What the fuck was that?” Adam snarled, pacing before her. 

She bit her tongue and raised her chin. “What do you mean?” she asked. 

He stopped and started for her. She backed up until her back hit the wall and he was lording over her. She could taste his fury on his breath. “You didn’t support me,” he said, staring her down. “You didn’t just do that, but you went against me.” His voice went soft, and his fingers traced a line down her cheek. Blake tried her best not to shudder against his touch. “I thought we had an agreement, my love.”

“I have no power on the Council,” she tried, but he shook his head.

“But people listen to you. Duke Wukong listens to you, Duchess Amitola listens to you, your parents listen to you.” He leaned in close. “You’re to support me. Not Duke Wukong. Not your parents. _Me_.”

“I support Menagerie.”

His fist slammed into the wall above her, and Blake winced. “I am trying to support Menagerie,” he spat. “You and Duke Wukong and your parents, you’re all too soft hearted. We need to show strength, we need-”

“To stop people from dying, Adam,” she interrupted before she could stop herself. She straightened herself up and pressed back against him. “This is more important than us, this is my country, the lives of actual people. I’m not going to endanger them.”

“No, they’re _humans_ ,” he spat. 

Blake went cold. “And Faunus. Humans and Faunus, and it shouldn’t matter! We are in a position to help, and we should help. End of story.”

Adam’s hand sank down to her throat. He didn’t tighten his grasp, but it was tight enough that she felt its presence. “You don’t get to decide that, princess,” he murmured, leaning in. Blake pushed against his grip, but his other hand slammed her wrist into the wall. “Listen to me.”

Blake looked up at him, swallowing thickly. Her eyes were burning holes into his skull. “I’m listening,” she said. She wondered if he could feel her blood rushing through her veins. 

Adam lowered his head and stared into her eyes. “You will support me. You will listen to me. You will obey.” He smiled, revealing his teeth. “Or something might just happen to our mutual friend.”

Her breath caught in her throat. “Menagerie-”

“Needs someone strong to rule it,” he said. “You and your parents would run this country into the ground. I’m going to save it.”

“You’re delusional.”

Her cheek was hot before she registered the blow. Tears sprang to her eyes, and she brought her hand to her cheek as she turned her head to look at him. Adam’s face was open and soft. “I love you,” he said, raising his hand once more, this time to brush her hair behind her ear. “I would hate for you to get hurt.”

Blake raised her chin. “I thought we were going to rule together,” she tried.

“You haven’t earned that privilege.”

Her eyes fell. “I just want what’s best for Menagerie,” she said quietly. 

Adam sighed. “We both want what’s best for Menagerie, I know, but you have to trust me.” He traced her cheekbone. “I know better than you, my love.” His voice was soft, almost tender. “From here on out, you’re going to support me. I know what’s best for Menagerie.”

She tried to force herself to agree, tried to make herself quiet and humble and subservient, but she couldn’t. “I know my country,” Blake said, looking into his eyes. “And I won’t let you ruin it.”

Adam’s face twisted. “I’ll kill her,” he said. His breath was hot on her cheeks. “I’ll kill her, and I won’t blink.”

Blake raised her chin. “You harm a hair on her head, and I’ll run you through myself.”

“You can’t have it both ways, princess.” He raised his eyebrow. “Your lover or your country.” Blake shoved against his chest, but he grabbed her hands and pressed her against the wall by her wrists. “Tick tock,” he hissed. “I’m not a patient man, my love.”

“You’re not a man.” Her heart raced. “You’re a monster.”

“I’m going to be Menagerie’s savior!”

Blake stilled. “Marry me,” she said.

Surprise flashed over Adam’s face. “What?”

“Marry me.”

Adam cocked a brow. “What’s causing this change of tune?”

“This was a test,” she said. Her heart beat in her chest like a drum. “I’m sorry, but I needed to know that you cared about Menagerie more than anything. More than me.” She swallowed, softening her gaze. “Marry me,” she repeated. 

Adam stilled. He studied her for a moment before nodding. “I’ll marry you,” he said. “I’ll officially propose tomorrow. This needs to be done right.”

“Of course,” she said. “Whatever you want.”

He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I knew you would come around,” he murmured against her skin. 

Blake closed her eyes. “I want Yang gone.” A lump grew in her throat. She had to play this delicately. “I want Yang to be found, and I want her to go home to Patch. I want her gone from Menagerie.”

Adam chuckled. It was a dark sound. “And why would I do that?”

“Because I don’t want her here.” She put her hand on his bicep. “Not when we’re going to be starting our lives together. I don’t want her to be a blemish on our start. On our _reign_ ,” she breathed. 

He studied her. “And if I don’t believe you?”

“We have a wedding to plan. I think I can convince you by then.” Her ears sagged. “Please, Adam. I don’t want her here. I want it just to be us. Just you and me.” 

“Just you and me, huh?”

“Please. Just you and me.” Blake leaned up and pressed a kiss onto his cheek. “Please, Adam.”

“I’ll think about it.” He kissed her forehead.

Blake smiled. “Thank you.”

Brothers, she hoped this worked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Any theories as to the plan? ;)


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back everybody! Hope you're excited. I have the rest of the fic plotted out, and I'm really excited! Mwhahaha.

Blake drew in her notebook with a furrowed brow. No, that wouldn’t work. She crossed out her work and started on a new page with a sigh. She had been at this for hours, and it still wasn’t good enough. It had to be airtight. It had to be perfect. 

She dipped her pen into her ink once more and scratched against the paper in neat, curved lines. Weiss had managed to smuggle her some notes that she suspected would be helpful, and it was up to Blake to make heads or tails of the damned things. Translation was not her strong suit, but she was better than Weiss or Ilia.

No, that wasn’t right either. She groaned, ripping the page out and crumpling it up. She had been working on this passage for an hour, and she kept getting tripped up. Blake would translate something as literal, read another line or two, then go back and realize it was actually an extended metaphor or a reference to something she had never read, and she would go back and forth until the words were spinning behind her closed eyelids.

She pushed back in her chair, leaning back. The sun was almost ready to rise. She had been at this all night. Blake sighed, pushing her hair over her shoulders. She was close. She had to be close, because the other option was too depressing to consider. 

Blake blew air over the pages to let the ink dry as she cleaned up her desk. By the time she had scrubbed at the ink stains and stacked the books she’d retrieved from the library, the ink was dry. She snapped the small notebook shut and slipped between the fabric of her canopy. She washed her hands with long-cold water before finally collapsing into bed.

Adam was going to propose. 

She twisted onto her side and curled her knees into her chest. She had cut their timeline short, but she couldn’t let Adam hurt Menagerie. Not her country. Not her people. 

She couldn’t let him hurt Yang, either.

Blake flopped onto her back with a groan. If he made her choose between her country and Yang, what would she choose? Her stomach tightened. She knew what Yang wanted her to choose. She knew what she should choose. She knew that damning one life was better than damning hundreds of thousands. 

But the idea of losing Yang ripped her open. Yang didn’t deserve to be cursed. She deserved, at the very least, the consistency of her humanity, but she deserved so much more than that.

Yang deserved being able to feel the sun kiss her skin whenever she pleased. She deserved love, even if it wasn’t with Blake. She deserved happiness. She deserved all the kindness she had shown Blake, had shown the world, and, instead, the world had beaten her down. No. Adam was the one who had done this. Not the world. 

He was only a man. A monster of a man, true, but he was only a man. And men could be defeated.

Blake turned onto her other side. The sky was brightening. She wondered if Yang was still human, savoring her last minutes in her own flesh, or if the curse had already forced her into her swan form. She wondered if Yang missed her as much as she missed her. 

Her breath caught in her throat. There was someone else who missed Yang.

She sat up with a sigh, rubbing her eyes. She wasn’t going to sleep anyway. She might as well make it a productive sleepless night. 

Blake fetched her ink and quill once more before grabbing a fresh sheet of parchment.

_Dearest Lady Ruby_ …

* * *

“Duke Wukong, do you have any plans for the day?” she asked politely, buttering a scone. Blake had already helped herself to fruit. She needed sugar to stay awake right now. She was sure that everyone noticed the bags under her eyes, but Duke Wukong did her the decency of greeting her as he usually did, with overt exuberance. 

“You can call me Sun,” he said eagerly. “Duke Wukong is so formal. Only people in Kuo Kuana call me that, everyone just calls me Sun.” He paused. “Well, unless something is meant to be serious. Then it’s Duke Wukong, but just Sun is fine, your Highness.”

“Sun, then.” 

He smiled. “But I was planning on visiting the beachside,” he said. His tail neatly swept crumbs off his chest, and a smile tugged at her lips. “I think I’m going to do that tomorrow, though.”

“It is best to leave early and spend the whole day there,” she advised before taking a bite of her scone. It tasted dull in her mouth, but she forced herself to swallow. “You said you had some ideas to run by me?”

Sun nodded, straightening up and reaching into his jacket to hand her some folded papers. Blake unfolded them, quickly scanning over the pages. “I was thinking we could start an official school system here in Kuo Kuana,” he said. 

“A school system?” she repeated. Some uncurled in her chest. “I’ve been saying that for years!” Blake had been educated privately, but what about her people? Not everyone could afford tutors, and education was key to a thriving kingdom. 

“I know!” he exclaimed. “But I went through the logistics of it. First, we need teachers. We’ll probably have to import teachers from other kingdoms at first, but I’ve already reached out to some noblemen and noblewomen, and some of them are interested in teaching.”

“Really?” Her heart leapt.

Sun nodded. “Lady Lionheart, Duke Lionheart’s youngest, is an expert in mathematics, and she told me she wants to spread her love. Duke Amin’s father is considered one of the world’s best linguists, and he’s told me that he would love to teach kids again. Did you know he educated all of his children himself?” Sun shook his head with a grin on his face. “The man’s a genius!”

“We’re going to need more teachers than that,” she said.

“I have a list of those who have agreed to at least consider teaching in there somewhere,” Sun said. “But it’s only a start. I think we’ll need teachers from the other kingdoms, and even if we didn’t, I think it would be a good show of faith to the other kingdoms. Like, we’re educating our people in a variety of perspectives and all that. Very progressive.”

Blake nodded, her fingertips tracing the edges of the paper. “We would need to ask other kingdoms about the rigor of their schooling programs,” she mused. “Vale’s is still only a few years old, and Atlas’s is well-ingrained. We don’t want to overwhelm the people.” She nodded, more to herself than to Sun. “I’ll write to King Jaune and Queen Pyrrha to ask them for suggestions about starting up.” 

“One more thing,” Sun said, and worry flickered across his face. “I think we should mix Faunus and humans in the classroom.”

Blake nodded, her brow creasing. “Why wouldn’t we?”

Relief broke out over his face. “Okay, that’s what I thought you would say, but I wasn’t sure, and I really think-”

“Sun,” she interrupted, laying a hand over his forearm, “it’s a good idea.” She smiled. “It’ll take some time to work out all the details, but you should present this at the next Council meeting.”

“Well, I was hoping you could look it over and give me some notes,” he said. “I want to make sure it’s up to snuff, and all that.” 

Blake nodded. “Of course I will.” She squeezed gently. “This is a great idea.” She ignored the flicker in her stomach. Adam wouldn’t like this. Her smile faded slightly, and she cleared her throat. Her eyes darted to the clock, and she paled. “I’ll get these back to you as soon as I can,” she said. “Would you excuse me? I just remembered I have a prior engagement.”

Sun nodded. “Enjoy your day, your Highness!” he said.

“You too, Sun.” She left the room, papers in hand, and raced to her chambers. She put the papers on her desk before running back out of her rooms and to the gardens. Adam was already waiting for her on the stone steps. His face was stone, and she forced herself to slow down as she approached. “My apologies, breakfast ran late,” she said. 

Adam nodded. “How is Duke Wukong?” His voice was cold.

“He’s well. He is planning on visiting the beachside tomorrow.” She ignored the hammering of her heart and gave him a soft smile. “We should visit the beach sometime.” 

But Adam didn’t melt. “And when were you going to tell me that you were meeting with _him_?” he asked.

Oh. Fuck. 

“He asked me yesterday after the Council meeting,” she explained. “It slipped my mind with everything that happened yesterday. He wanted to run some ideas by me before he left.” Adam would not like that. “He wants to start an official school system,” she added quickly. 

Something in Adam softened. “A school system?” he repeated. He smirked. “So he’s not as dumb as he looks.” Blake elbowed him gently. “What? It’s a good idea. I just wouldn’t expect it to come from him, of all people.”

“Well, I’m going to look it over. Add some suggestions as necessary.” They started down the steps. “But I think it’ll be good for Menagerie.”

Adam hummed in agreement. “We can’t rely on private tutors to educate our people,” he said as they walked. “A school system, why didn’t I think of that?”

Blake pressed a kiss to his cold cheek. “Because you’ve been busy,” she said, forcing her voice into something resembling kindness. “Besides, you can’t have all the good ideas, you know.” 

He huffed, but he finally cracked. Blake let out a sigh of relief. “Speaking of good ideas,” he began. Her stomach churned as he got in front of her and bent down on one knee. His hand dipped into his pocket and brought a simple gold band with a red gem set in it. Her breath caught. It was his mother’s ring. “Will you, Princess Blake Belladonna, marry me?”

A smile broke out across her face, even as her very bones revolted. “Yes,” she breathed. “Of course, yes!”

He slid the ring onto her finger. A piece of jewelry had never felt so heavy. She flexed her fingers as he drew his hands away. She stared into the red gem, heart racing. Adam rose, and he looked her in the eyes. “I love you,” he said softly. 

The twisted part was she didn’t think he was lying. She could see it in his eyes. It wasn’t a healthy love, it wasn’t a real love. But he believed he loved her. He believed that what he felt for he was love. Blake knew better.

Blake thought about lilac eyes and golden hair and a smile that outshone the sun. Her eyes grew hot. “I love you too,” she said. 

His blue eyes widened, and then he smiled. Adam kissed her forehead. “Good girl,” he murmured against her skin. He drew back, and then his mouth was coming for her own. She quickly pressed her finger against his lips with a teasing smile. 

“I told you,” she said lightly, “wedding day.”

Adam blinked at her before he broke out in a smile. “Fine,” he said, kissing her forehead once more. “But I’ll get that kiss.”

“You will,” she agreed. “You will.”

Not if she had anything to do with it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everybody! Hope y'all are ready for some ANGST. :)

“Your Highness, the Princess of Atlas has sent you a letter,” Coco said, appearing at Blake’s elbow as she held out an envelope sealed with the familiar pale blue wax. The snowflake seal was unbroken, she noted. Too many of her letters from Weiss had been intercepted, but, at first glance, this appeared to be untampered with. 

Blake nodded, taking the letter into her hands as she ran her fingers over the seal, checking for re-melting. “Thank you, Coco,” she said. Coco nodded and left, and Blake eagerly tore into parchment once she was gone. Her eyes quickly scanned over the sheets of neat cursive, her heart racing as she read.

Oh. _Oh_.

This is what she had been waiting for. 

Blake read the letter again and again until she was sure of what she was reading, until she had memorized it. She traced each word, her nail scraping against the stiff parchment. Her heart was beating like a drum, and she forced herself to swallow. _Breathe, Blake. Breathe._

Once she was sure she memorized every word, Blake stood up and threw the letter into her crackling fire. She watched the parchment burn, her stomach twisting as the papers crackled and swooned in the flames. _Be careful_ Weiss had said at the end of the letter. _I can’t help you all the way from Atlas_. She knew that. But Weiss had played her part. Weiss had done more than enough. 

Blake squared her shoulders and raised her chin. It was time to play her part. She just hoped she had the strength to do it. 

* * *

Blake woke up to the birds chirping outside her window. There was fresh sunshine coming through the windows and onto her pillows, blinding her eyes. She blinked, spots appearing before her eyes as she collected herself. She must have slept late by accident. Normally she was up before Coco and Velvet arrived, but perhaps she had told them to get her up late today. She couldn’t remember. 

She stretched and curled up underneath the covers, reveling in their generous warmth before turning and straightening her spine against the mattress. She blinked blearily and sat up with a yawn, bringing her arms over her head in a stretch. 

Her ears twitched.

“Good morning, Sleeping Beauty.”

Blake froze, her eyes shooting open. “What are you doing here?” she asked, grabbing the blankets and pressing them to her rapidly rising and falling chest. “This isn’t proper, Adam.” Her voice was shaky, shakier than she’d like to admit. She tried a coy smile, but Adam’s face was like stone. 

She was all too aware of the thin slip she wore as she held the blankets up, almost like a shield. He was sitting across from her. Her eyes flicked to the sword sheathed at his side before sliding back to his face. Why was he here?

He had moved her desk chair to right in front of the edge of her bed. Fear curdled in her stomach. He had been watching her sleep. How long had he been there? Where were Velvet and Coco? Where were the _guards_?

Adam shrugged. She noticed the notebook, her notebook, in his hands, and he was balancing it on the tips of his fingers. Blake went cold as all the blood drained from her face. “Adam?” she repeated, pulling her legs up to her chest. How had he gotten in? “What are you doing here?”

“Did you really think I didn’t know?”

“Didn’t know what?” 

He snorted. “Playing ignorant until the very end, then?” He thumbed the small volume open. “You were going to break the engagement off and embarrass me in front of all the other kingdoms. You were going to betray me, my love.” His voice was eerily calm. Too calm. Too patient. 

Her mind raced. “No, I wasn’t, I-”

“Don’t lie!” Adam snarled, standing up as he threw the notebook against the wall. Blake winced, and she scrambled backwards in her bed, her back hitting the wall. He smirked, cocking his head. “I’m not an idiot. I knew you had something up your sleeve, _princess_. But this,” he shook his head, “ _t_ _his_ is truly pathetic. I expected better of you.” His voice was mocking and sharp.

Her heart hammered in her chest. “What are you doing here?”

Adam launched himself from his chair and onto the mattress, which dipped as it took his weight. Blake backed up, but she froze as his fingers forced her chin up. He grabbed her jaw, tight, and jerked her closer to him. “You’re mine, _princess_ ,” he hissed. “I told you not to cross me.”

Blake pushed against him, but he held her strong. “Get off of me, this isn’t proper,” she hissed, pulling at his wrists. Her legs were tangled in the covers and her shift. 

“That doesn’t matter anymore.”

“What do you mean?”

His grip softened, and he gently stroked her cheek. “Something _terrible_ has happened,” he drawled. “There was a coup d'etat.” His lips quirked up at the edges, sharp as his blade. “I’ve been declared King, my love.”

All the blood rain out of her face. Blake shook her head. “What? No, no!”

“Yes,” he breathed. His eyes were shining. He pressed closer into her, and Blake couldn’t move back anymore, although she tried. Adam was lording over her, bending down to stare her in the eyes. He was too close. Far too close. “I am the King of Menagerie.”

Blake tried to push him off of her, but he slammed her up against the wall by her throat. Her head crashed against the stone. She blinked rapidly, her skull aching. “You’re going to be my wife,” he said simply, holding her by her neck. Blake gasped for air, scrambling to grab at his hands. Her nails scratched into his skin, but his hands didn’t so much as twitch. 

“Why?” she managed, pulling at his wrists in vain. Everything felt cold. She knew his hands were on her neck, but she felt nothing. Her parents, where were her parents-

“Because you were going to betray me.” Blake shook her head rapidly. “I told you already, don’t deny it. I know. I’ve known for weeks now.” His free hand gently brushed her hair out of her face and rested on her cheek. “So this is what I had to do. You forced my hand, my love. I warned you. I told you not to push me.”

“Where are my parents?” she hissed. 

He tilted his head, and his horns caught the early morning sun, gleaming. “They’re safe. I ordered that no harm was to come to them.” He thumbed her lower lip. “For now.” 

“Where are they?”

“They’re under lock and key.” Adam smiled. “Aren’t you going to ask about your lover?”

“Don’t call her that!” Blake sucked in a breath. “What have you done to her?”

“Nothing. Yet.” Adam hummed. His eyes glinted. “But watch what you say next, my love. I’d hate to have to go hunting tomorrow.” 

Blake shook her head. “What else do you want with me? Haven’t you already taken enough?” Yang, her parents, her _kingdom_. What else did he want from her? Did he want to suck the marrow from her very bones? Did he want to drain her dry? _What else_?

“Darling, I’m just getting started.” He smiled, revealing his glossy teeth. 

“What are you going to do to me?”

“Nothing. Absolutely nothing.” His grip tightened around her throat before releasing. Blake gasped for air, hands flying to her neck. “But you’re going to listen. I have your _lover_ , I have your parents, and I have your kingdom. I have _you_ , Blake. And you’re going to be my wife.”

“ _Why?_ ”

“Does it matter?” He traced her lip with his thumb. “I get what I want, Blake.” She took his thumb into her mouth and _bit_ , sharp enough that she tasted his blood and bone. Adam wrenched his hand from her mouth. He slapped her, and her teeth cut her cheek. She snapped her head back to look at him, face hot. “You’re going to listen, unless you want them all dead!”

Blake stopped. She could feel the blood slowly oozing into her mouth. “What do you want?” she gritted. 

“So many things,” he said. His breath was hot on her skin, but she shivered. “First, you’re going to make an announcement to the people. You are going to tell them not to fight my men, or there will be consequences. You are going to announce our wedding, which will occur in a week’s time. You are going to send word to the other kingdoms that the House of Taurus is now the ruling house of Menagerie. You are going to _listen_ , my love.”

“And, let me guess, if I don’t, you’ll kill everyone I love.” Her voice was hollow and flat.

“You’re a smart girl, Blake. Pity you weren’t smart enough.” He pet her still stinging cheek. 

“Why don’t you just kill me? Why don’t you just imprison me along with them?” Her eyes grew hot. He would not see her cry, she refused to let him see her cry. 

“The people love your family. I’m not an idiot. Marrying you is a show of good faith.” His eyes turned hard. “I’ve told you before, and I’ll tell you again. I love you. You’re mine, Blake. And I don’t let my possessions go.”

“I’m not your possession,” she spat.

He hit her again, knocking her head against the wall. “You are whatever I say you are,” he hissed. “And you are mine.”

She raised her chin. “Fuck you.” Blake slammed her hands against his chest. Adam slapped her again. Blake let out a hard breath and forced herself to sit back up. “Fuck you!” She hit his chest, and he leaned backwards to take the blow, but Blake shoved him. “Fuck you!” She furiously beat her fists against his chest until she was screaming, until her throat was raw and bleeding. “You can’t do this!”

He let her hit him. He let her slam into him, over and over and over again. Her hands weren’t calloused from the battlefield and training, they were delicate and soft, but she put all her strength behind them and shoved him backwards. He didn’t move.

Adam didn’t move.

Tears clouded her vision, and she heard a broken noise. It was only at the aching of her throat did she realize that it came from her. “Fuck you,” she whimpered. She closed her eyes as her shoulders slumped. Her breath was ragged and torn. 

He scooped her up in his arms. She tried to shake his grasp, but he held her tight to his chest. “You’ll thank me for this,” he said against the shell of her ear. Blake tried to squirm against him, tried to push back, but he held her in his embrace and squeezed. She choked. 

“You can’t do this.”

“I can do whatever I want.” 

Blake closed her eyes. “And what do you want?” she choked out.

She could feel him smile. “Everything.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fucking goatman.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everybody! This chapter is a little violent, just a heads up, so please take care of yourself.

Blake stepped out onto the balcony, the papers in her hands shaking. Adam was right behind her, his hand on her elbow. “You know what to do,” he murmured in her ear. A shiver ran up her spine as his thumb stroked the back of her arm. 

She nodded, clearing her throat. Blake gazed out over the people gathered. The courtyard was deathly silent. Her heart stopped as she studied their faces. She stepped forward, and the people stared up at her as they saw her. Some faces cracked with hope, others twisted in fury, and others kept still. All looked up at her.

Her throat grew thick. “Greetings, people of Menagerie,” she began. Her voice caught, and she swallowed. “Greetings, people of Menagerie,” she repeated, her voice echoing throughout the courtyard. 

“Princess!” The call started up in the courtyard, and soon all of her people were shouting for her. “Princess! Princess! _Princess_!”

Blake took a half step back, she only met the unyielding stone of Adam’s body. He forced her forward with a nudge. She straightened her shoulders as she pressed closer to the crowd. “People of Menagerie, do not be afraid.” She wondered if they could see the papers shaking in her hands. 

She took a deep breath. “My family has failed Menagerie.” Her voice cracked. “As you may know, the new King Adam Taurus has come to save us from ourselves.” There was a shout in the back of the ground, and then complete silence. The papers tensed in her hands. “He has graciously agreed to become our King.

“He has done me the honor of agreeing to honor our engagement. We are going to marry in a week’s time.” Murmurs started up in the crowd once more. Adam nudged her forward. “I am to be his Queen, and I am honored to rule beside him over this beautiful country.” She swallowed, looking back at her papers.

Blake raised her chin and lowered her hands to her waist. She looked quickly over the courtyard. There weren’t many guards surrounding the people, the majority were right below her and Adam. Her eyes flicked to the open gates. They wouldn’t have time to close them. She took a deep breath.

“ _Duke_ Taurus is holding my parents captive. Flee, get away, do not let him hurt you! RUN!” she shouted. Adam grabbed her around her waist and dragged her back, but she kept screaming. Her hands grabbed at the balcony, her nail dug into the stone, but he ripped her from the beam. “People of Menagerie, do not let him win! I am fighting-”

The balcony doors slammed shut in front of her, and Adam dragged her through the corridors. He slung her over his shoulder, kicking and screaming. She could feel his men glaring at her as he dragged her back to her chambers, and he threw her to the floor. Her head crashed against the stone. She looked up at him as he slammed the door, holding herself up on her shaking hands. 

She dropped back to the ground as his foot swung for her rib, curling into a ball as his boot collided with her belly. Blake grunted, and tears sprang to her eyes. She pulled herself into a tight circle, clenching her eyes shut as she waited for the hit that never came. She looked up at him. He was a blur of black and red.

“I told you what to do. I wrote the words out for you to say. All you had to do was listen.” He bent down before her and dug his fingers underneath her chin. “Why couldn’t you just listen?”

“You don’t get to hurt my people. You can hurt me, you can do whatever you want to me. But you do not get to hurt my people.” She jerked her chin away from him. “You do not get to hurt Menagerie.”

He struck her. Blake flinched, but she kept gazing into his eyes. “You are the one hurting Menagerie, _princess_. You’re standing in the way of progress. You’re the one opposing me. You’re the one who won’t listen.” 

Blake spat at him. It landed in his eye. He struck her to the ground, wiping his eye as he did. “You will pay for this,” he vowed. “I promise you, you will pay.”

“But my country will not.” She forced herself up off the ground and onto her knees. “My country goes free. You may be King, Adam, but you are not the king of my people. And you never will be.”

She got onto her feet, shaking. Adam watched her as she rose. Blak’s ears twitched. “They’ll call for aid. They’ll send for the other kingdoms. They will come, Adam. They will destroy you.”

Adam smirked. “Why would they?” he sneered. “If they know what’s good for them, they will stay out of my way.” He gave her an exaggerated bow, never breaking eye contact. “Now, princess, you shall remain here until our wedding day. If you try to leave, the guards will bring you back by force if necessary.”

Blake stiffened, but she rolled her shoulders back and narrowed her eyes. “Do your worst, Adam.”

He chuckled. “I’ll remember this moment, my love. I’ll remember this moment.” His eyes glimmered. “I hope you will as well.” 

She watched as he opened the door and walked out. The door slammed shut behind him, and then Blake was alone. 

Blake was alone.

She took a deep breath, ignoring the shaking in her bones. She set herself to rights and smoothed her skirts. She strode over to the window, checking below her. There were three guards stationed there. She checked the next window, stomach sinking. More guards. She checked every window, and beneath every one, more guards. She was a prisoner in her own country, in her own home.

Blake leaned against the wall and took another deep breath, but it was fruitless. She couldn’t get enough air in her lungs. Panic threatened to overtake her. It pulsed in her blood like a foreign entity, squirmed about and jolted through her system. She shivered, wrapping her arms around herself. 

She was alone.

She closed her eyes. Her ears stiffened up. She couldn’t hear the sounds of shouting, of people. Her people. She could only hope that they had managed to run off before the guards could corral them. She could only hope that they were safe.

But none of them were safe. Not while Adam reigned. 

Another deep breath. 

She was alone.

* * *

Two days before the wedding, there was a knock at her door before Adam burst in. She was sitting on her couch and reading. She hadn’t dared try to leave the room since her second day of imprisonment, when the guards had brought her back screaming and then hit her in the stomach until she felt like she was going to throw up blood. Her tummy was a vigorous and hideous purple, and it ached when she moved. 

“My love,” he said, his arm behind his back, “I’ve brought you something.” His eyes sparkled.

“You shouldn’t have.” She narrowed her eyes as she set her book down. 

Adam smiled sharply. He slammed whatever was in his hands down onto the floor, a flash of white flying out of his hands. “Oh, but I had to,” he drawled. Blake stared at the ground between them. There was a broken white body of a bird. “I really had to.”

Blake tried to stand, but her knees failed her. “You didn’t. Tell me this isn’t her. _Tell me_ ,” she begged, tears already blurring her vision. Everything was still.

“I told you, you would pay.” He shrugged above her. Blake sank onto the floor and crawled over to the bird, to _Yang_. She tentatively stroked her head as a strangled sob left her chest. It was so soft. 

Blake closed her eyes, fighting back tears, but Adam kept talking. “I had to wait for hours, you. I waited until just after dawn. I watched her change back. She was waiting for you, I think.” He chuckled. “And then I grabbed her, and I snapped her neck. She didn’t stand a chance.” 

Tears dripped down her cheeks. Blake cradled Yang’s head in her arms. “You’re a monster. She had done nothing wrong.”

“No, but you did. You needed to pay, my love. I keep my promises.”

Blake looked up at him. He was smiling. She gently slipped Yang’s head onto the floor. She got to her feet, shaking. 

She pounced.

Adam was ready for her, and he grabbed her by the wrists. She didn’t stop fighting him. She scratched at his face, kicked him in the stomach, screamed bloody murder. He managed to get her up against the wall, but she kept fighting. He slammed her head back against the stone, but she managed to snag his cheek with her nails. She watched as a drop of blood started down his face. 

His hand grabbed her throat and _squeezed_. Blake pawed at his hands, but he pushed her up the wall so her feet dangled. She couldn’t breathe. Brothers above, she couldn’t _breathe_.

“I give you a gift, and this is how you react?” He slammed her into the wall once more. Dark spots danced before her eyes. “I gave you what you wanted. You wanted her gone, and now she’s gone.” A dark chuckle. “Forever.”

She kicked at him, and he dropped her to the floor. “Bitch,” he hissed, eyes bright. Blake attacked him again, clawing at his face until she could feel his skin underneath her nails. His face was twisted in fury, and he backhanded her. She fell to the ground. 

“Keep fighting me,” he snarled. “I’ll bring you your parent’s bodies next.”

Blake went cold. “Don’t hurt them,” she rasped. “Please, don’t hurt them.” Her fury begged to explode, but fear stilled it. She was so cold. Her stomach ached. 

Adam smiled at her. There were red scratches all over his face, and the smallest smear of red down his cheek. “Don’t make me.”

She bowed her head. “I won’t,” she gritted. “ _My King_.”

Adam’s smile widened. He straightened up. She watched him warily, still on the ground. Her heart pounded in her chest. She was vaguely aware of the splitting of her lip and the ache that came with it as she looked up at him. 

“That’s my girl.” 

Blake closed her eyes. “Give her a burial. Please, Adam. Please, bury her. Give me this. You’ve already won. Let me have this. Give her a proper burial.”

He snorted. “You’re in no position to be asking me for things, my love.” He adjusted his doublet. “And to ask me to change my dinner plans as well.”

“No, please, _no_.” Blake shook her head, forcing herself to her knees. “Please, Adam. Please.” Her voice broke. “Don’t do this. Please, don’t do this.” Blake clasped her hands and begged. “Don’t do this. She deserves better than this.”

“She deserves to burn!” he snapped, eyes burning. 

“She did nothing wrong!” She lowered her head. “I did. Don’t make her suffer anymore for my crimes.” Her lip wobbled. “Please, Adam. _Please_.”

“I do as I please,” he snarled, snatching Yang’s broken body off the ground. “If you apologize, I might even bring you some.”

“Please,” she whimpered. Tears dripped down her cheeks. “What do I have to do?” Sobs threatened to overwhelm her. 

Adam stared at her. “You’re pathetic,” he sneered. “Willing to debase yourself for a _human_. You’re a disgrace.” Each word dug into her like a knife. He chuckled. “You’re lucky I put up with you.”

She clenched her jaw and closed her eyes. Blake stood up, her blood shaking. She walked over to him. His eyes narrowed as she approached, but she kept her hands at her sides. “Please,” she said. Her ears sagged. “Let me bury her.” _Let me give her this one mercy._

Blake flinched as he brushed her hair out of her face and wiped her tears from her cheeks, but she kept her chin raised. He tilted his head, cupping her cheek in his hand. His thumb stroked her lower lip, which was still wobbling. “And waste such a pretty bird?” Blake closed her eyes.

“You’re a monster.”

“I’m Menagerie’s savior.” His voice was hard. “You’ll learn, Blake. You’ll learn.”

Her eyes flashed open. “I will never forgive you for this.”

“You don’t have to forgive me. You just have to listen.” His hand drew back, and she noticed his thumb was covered in red. He brought his finger to his mouth and sucked her blood from his skin, never breaking eye contact. “I would hate to have to hurt your parents.”

Her breath was shallow in her chest. “Don’t-”

He struck her. “Don’t,” he hissed, “tell me what I can and cannot do.”

Blake straightened up. She tried to speak, but only a sob came out. Her hands clasped her mouth, and another sob broke out. Her chest heaved, and she shook. Her eyes darted to the lifeless corpse in Adam’s hands. Her throat grew thick. 

“I’ll leave you to your mourning. I expect only tears of joy for our wedding day.”

The door shut, and Blake fell to the floor. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See you all next chapter!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lot of y'all want to strangle Adam or shove cacti in unsavoury places. Good. :)

Blake hadn’t gotten out of bed since she had managed to drag herself off the floor two days ago. She had barely slept in the past forty eight hours. They had brought her food. She hadn’t eaten it. She had only gotten up to relieve herself and to drink. She spent hours beneath the covers, blankly watching the sun’s rays rise and set. 

She let the blankets smother her limbs, her chin just barely tucked above the covers. Blake was straight on her back. Her cheeks had dried salty, but at least they were dry. She had run out of tears after the first few hours, but she still found her eyes growing wet once more as the sun creeped through her windows.

She was getting married today.

Her heart would race, but everything just felt cold and still. The only movement she was aware of was her lungs expanding and contracting as she breathed. In and out. In and out. In and out. Breathing was a constant, it was the only constant she had left. She was still breathing.

And Yang wasn’t.

Her eyes blinked shut as they grew hot. Yang was gone. Yang was gone. Yang was gone.

She had deserved so much better. Blake had doomed her. It was Blake’s fault that she was dead. She hadn’t listened, why hadn’t she listened, and it was all her fault. A part of her knew that she had done what Yang would have wanted her to do, that she had done what she needed to do, but she was drowning in her guilt. It was her fault.

Yang was dead. 

A whimper left her lips. She could still see Yang in her mind’s eye, glowing and golden and gorgeous. She was smiling, she always had a smile for Blake. Even after getting cursed, she always gave her a smile. She always cared, dammit. Her heart was so big, and she had given it to Blake.

And what had Blake done with it? Nothing. She was just the reason it had stopped beating. Another whimper. Yang was dead, and she was gone, and it was Blake’s fault. 

Fury clawed at her veins, begged to be let out, but she was so tired. She was so fucking tired. Yang was gone. Adam had killed her. He hadn’t even had the decency to give her death in her own body. Her stomach churned at the thought of what he had done to her. How much more did Yang have to suffer because of Blake?

At least Adam couldn’t reach her now. At least she was free. 

But death wasn’t freedom, was it? Death was inevitable, but Yang deserved freedom, real, true freedom. She deserved the opportunity to breathe and dance in the sun in her own skin. She deserved life. She deserved so much more than what she got. She had deserved more than Blake.

Blake wished she had gotten to tell her she loved her. Just one last time. She couldn’t remember the last time she had told her that she loved her, couldn’t remember the last time she had let the words pass her lips. It had been too long. She had died without hearing how much Blake loved her, died without knowing how much she loved her.

She loved her, and now she was dead. 

A moan left her lips, and her breaths grew shallow. How could she have been so reckless? How could she have been so careless? She should have waited, like Yang had wanted, should have let Adam propose in a year’s time, should have had patience. Maybe Yang would still be alive. 

_He would have still killed her_ a voice whispered, but the guilt shut that voice down faster than the words could sink it. Yang could still be alive if she hadn’t tried to beat him. 

But what kind of life was a cursed one? Trapped inside a body that wasn’t her own, forced to transform, stuck in without human interaction. Blake had failed to save her from it, and because she had failed, Yang was dead. 

Yang was dead.

Her door opened. She didn’t get up. 

“Your Highness?” Velvet asked softly. Blake slowly blinked her eyes open. Velvet and Coco were at the door. Velvet’s ears sagged. “We’ve been sent to ready you for the ceremony.”

Blake tilted her head back up to the canopy of her bed. She had to marry him. He would kill her parents otherwise. She couldn’t bear any more blood of the people she loved on her hands. And at least if she was by his side, she could temper his crueler impulses. She could still salvage her people. She could still save her country.

But she had failed to save Yang, and her blood would forever stain her hands.

She forced herself to sit up. Her stomach ached, and she could see the violent bruises through the thinness of her slip. Velvet and Coco paled as she stood up. She imagined she looked like hell.

“Your Highness-” Velvet began before cutting herself off. Blake just nodded. “We’re here for you. Not him. We’re here for you.”

“You should’ve run,” she croaked. 

“Not without you.”

Another hole ripped inside her chest. As if the one Yang left wasn’t still gaping and bleeding and aching and more than enough to bring her to her knees. 

Blake closed her eyes. Soft hands guided her to her bath, gently removing her shift and combing through the knots in her hair. She felt as helpless as a child, but she could not force herself to move. Everything hurt. Everything was numb.

The water started, and she hissed as the warmth burned her toes. “Sorry, your Highness,” Velvet said quietly. “I’m so sorry.”

Blake just nodded. The motion took more out of her than she cared to admit. “It’s alright. It’s alright.” She closed her eyes once more and tilted her head back, reveling in Velvet’s ministrations. 

“Do you want to wash yourself, or would you like me to?”

“I can wash myself, I just- I need a minute.”

“Of course, your Highness.”

 _Not for much longer_ she thought. Soon, she would have to get used to _your Majesty_. Her stomach churned. It was all so wrong. Everything was so wrong. This was never how it was meant to go. 

Velvet finished brushing her hair, and Blake sat up in the water. She grabbed the soap and washed herself recklessly, carelessly. Her skin felt wrong. She kept scrubbing, and scrubbing, and scrubbing, until her flesh was red and raw and weeping. Her skin still felt wrong, but Velvet gently placed her hand over Blake’s and forced her to put the soap down. 

Velvet washed her hair, and then she helped her out of the bath. Blake patted herself dry before moving to get into her undergarments.

“Not those, your Highness,” Coco said quietly.

Her throat grew thick. “Oh. Right.”

Her stomach churned. 

Coco helped her into the delicate white shift and drawers before handing her a corset. Blake studied it. It was far more beautiful than her usual fare. Coco must have spent hours, if not days, straight devoted to it. The white corset was embroidered with golden flowers and up the sides crept soft lilac vines. Belladonna colors. Coco caught her eye and nodded. 

“You are our Queen,” she said softly, soft enough that the guards outside could hear. “Not him. Never him.”

Blake blinked, expecting her eyes to run hot, but her eyes were dry. Perhaps she had finally run out of tears. “Thank you,” she rasped. “Be careful.”

Coco nodded before getting behind Blake to lace her in. Blake sucked in her breath as she tight-laced her. It felt like all the air was expelled from her lungs. Coco finished. It was tight, too tight.

“Can you breathe?”

 _No_. “Yes. I’ll be fine.” With luck, she would faint before she had to say her vows. 

They helped her into her dress and petticoats and shoes before Velvet sat her down and started on her hair. She kept her eyes focused on her hands, which laid pathetically helpless in her lap. She clenched and unclenched her fists, watching her fingers whiten and tense as she did so. So helpless. She was helpless. No one could help her now. Not when she couldn’t even help herself.

Velvet braided the top half of her hair but left the rest of it loose and flowing. She used her fingers to accentuate Blake’s curls and tame them into shape, but she left the majority of her hair wild and free. Velvet then placed her circlet on her head. Blake closed her eyes as the all-too familiar metal was braided into her hair.

Coco draped her in a necklace and bracelets and rings. The metal was cold against her skin. Coco then began painting her lips in the softest pink she’d ever seen and lined her eyes in kohl. Blake didn’t want to look in the mirror, but she did it anyways.

She looked like a ghost. A beautiful, royal ghost, but a ghost. Her face was pale, her ears were sagging, and her eyes were adorned with purple bruise-like bags. Velvet and Coco had worked a miracle, and she looked almost alive, but even their magic couldn’t bring the life back to her eyes.

Blake stood up, her eye tracing her dress. It was delicate and lacey and poufy, and she hated it. Coco had done beautiful work, but she hated it. She hated that it was all for him, she hated that she was to be brought before him like a prized pig and mated like a dog. Her stomach churned.

She was going to have to kiss him. She was going to have to kiss the man who had murdered Yang, took over her country, threatened her people, and held her parents captive. Her first kiss and all the rest of her kisses would go to him. 

_That won’t be the only thing we do once we’re married_. His voice echoed in her head, and she winced. How long ago had he said that? 

“How long?” she asked quietly. 

Coco ducked out, and her face was still when she came back in. “An hour, your Highness.”

Blake’s eyes darted to the window. Her breath became short. “At sunset? The ceremony is at sunset?”

“Yes, your Highness.”

Blake closed her eyes. Of course he had to rub salt in her still bleeding wounds. Of course he had designed every inch of this to hurt her, tame her, control her. There was only so much hurt a person could take, Blake reasoned, before they broke. 

She squared her shoulders. But he hadn’t broken her. He may have taken everything from her, carved a pound of flesh from her very bones, but she was still there. She was still standing. Even if she didn’t want to be. Even if she wanted to crumple back into bed and lay there until she wasted away. Even if she didn’t have a choice. 

Blake Belladonna, first of her name, the only daughter of King Ghira and Queen Kali, and rightful heir to the throne of Menagerie, was still standing. She was going to remain standing, she had to remain standing. For her people. For her parents. For Yang.

She took a deep breath, reveling in the way the corset refused to let her chest expand. Let it fight her, let it hurt her. She was still standing, and she would remain standing. Adam may have won, but she was going to be his Queen. She would play her part, and she would bide her time. She would get justice.

Even as her chest caved in, she stood tall. She would not let him see weakness in her. She could play her part. She could listen. She could wait. Her throat grew thick. For Menagerie, she could do this. 

Velvet handed her a bouquet of flowers, and then Blake was ushered down the corridor and to the ballroom. It was so quiet. It was so wrong. The palace was never meant to be so still with fear. Blake’s hands tightened around the stems of the blooms as they walked. She wondered if this was how prisoners felt walking to the gallows. At least they knew their ending.

Another deep breath. For her people. For her parents. For Yang.

The doors swung open, and the music swelled. Blake lifted her chin, and she began walking down the aisle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed!


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for sticking with me so far, folks!

Blake kept her gaze fixed on the windows above the altar. The sun was a dark and glowing yellow, and it burned her eyes to look at it. She kept staring as she walked, even as her eyes grew damp. She would not look at him. Not until she absolutely had to. He could make her bend, but she would not break. She would never break. 

The room was largely empty. It was mostly guards and servants and what little was left of his house. She wondered where her parents were, and then she shoved the thought deep down. They were safe. They were the only hold he had left to lord over her. They _had_ to be safe. 

She raised her chin as she approached the end of the aisle. Adam’s horns gleamed in the dying sunlight, and his smile was radiant. And why wouldn’t it be? He had won. She had lost, and he had won. Blake accepted his hands as she stepped up to the altar, keeping her hand soft and relaxed, even as she longed to stiffen and scream. His very touch revolted her.

“You look beautiful,” he said. His eyes were bright. She forced herself to smile.

“Thank you,” she said softly. Her chest ached, and her corset pressed against her bruised belly as she took an unsteady breath. She may not have broken, but he didn’t know that. Let him think she was done fighting, let him think she was done, let him think she was broken. She could wait. 

The priestess cleared her throat, and they turned to face her, their hands raised between them to shoulder level. “We are gathered here today to celebrate the union of King Adam of House Taurus and Princess Blake of House Belladonna.” So she was still a princess, then. She hadn’t been sure if he had stripped her family of their titles entirely when he had thrown them out. 

The priestess’s words went in one ear and out the other. Blake kept her gaze fixed on the window in front of them. The sky was a beautiful glowing gold, but the dark was threatening at its edge. It was coming. 

“Do you, Adam, take Blake to be your bride?”

“I do.” He squeezed her hand. She didn’t react, even as her bones collided in her hand.

“And do you, Blake, take Adam to be your husband?”

Blake opened her mouth, and a whimper came out. Adam squeezed her hand again. “I do,” she choked. “I do.” 

Adam grinned. He looked straight out of Hell, done up in black and red and gold. He looked like a nightmare. 

“By the power vested in me, you may now-”

The doors slammed open. Blake jumped, but Adam held her hand tight. Her eyes darted between the doors and his furious face. 

“Let the princess go. Or else.” A woman in red stepped forward, a sword at her side. Blake’s heart skipped a beat. 

“And who do you think you are?” he snarled. 

The woman’s face settled into calm fury. “I am Lady Ruby Rose of Patch.”

Adam grabbed Blake’s hand and twisted her in front of him, drawing his blade and holding it to her throat. “Lady Ruby, you’re more than welcome to join in the festivities, but this is my wedding. Guards!”

Ruby brought her sword in front of her. “You don’t think I came alone, do you?” She smiled. Two women stepped out into the room, and Blake’s heart stopped.

“Like we’d let you have all the fun,” Ilia scoffed, wielding a thin blade. “It’s my damn country.”

Weiss smiled grimly at Blake as she unsheathed her own sword. “No. It’s Blake’s.”

Behind them, an army of people appeared. Blake’s heart leapt out of her chest, but the chill of the blade against her throat kept her cold. She struggled in his grasp, but Adam held the blade closer to her neck, nicking her skin. She could feel the blood starting to drip down her chest as the wound sang. 

“Let her go. I won’t ask again,” Ruby repeated. 

Adam turned his head back to the priestess. “Finish it,” he hissed.

Blake could hear the priestess clear her throat. Ruby’s army was fighting the guards, and Ruby, Weiss, and Ilia were all moving straight for her. “By the power vested in me, you are now man and wife. You may now kiss the bride.” 

Adam jerked her around and pressed his lips against hers. Blake shoved against him, but he held her close before throwing her to the ground. Blake wiped the back of her mouth. “Kill them!” he shouted.

The glass behind them shattered, and Blake was covered in shards. An army of white descended upon them, wings flapping and feathers flying everywhere. Blake could only watch as they surrounded Adam. She couldn’t see him between all the feathers and beaks and blood.

Adam started to scream.

Blake’s heart hammered in her chest as she watched the swans tear him apart. Hands grabbed her by her elbows, helping her to her feet. “Are you okay?” Ruby asked, eyes soft. 

Her voice was stuck in her throat, so she just nodded. “You came,” she croaked. Ruby nodded. Tears blurred her vision, and Blake wiped at her eyes. “I’m so sorry, Ruby. I’m so sorry.” A sob hiccuped out of her chest. Ruby held her up, and, if not for her, Blake would’ve collapsed. “I’m so sorry-”

“You have nothing to be sorry for,” Ruby said, gently rubbing her arms. “Nothing.”

Blake shook her head. “He killed her, he-” Another broken sob left her throat. “I’m so sorry.”

Ruby’s eyes flickered. “No, he didn’t.”

“Yes, he did.”

“No, Blake-”

A soft and feathery head bumped her hand. Blake looked down to see a swan gently rubbing her hand. Blake bent down, her hand stroking the smooth feathers of the bird. “Yang?” she asked. 

The swan nodded. There was blood on her feathers.

Her lips wobbled. “You’re alive?” Another nod. Another sob forced its way out of her mouth, and Blake’s eyes grew wet. “You’re alive.” Yang gently brushed her hands with her wings. 

Blake was vaguely aware of the sounds of battle around her, but she didn’t care. She clutched Yang to her chest, ignoring the _squawk_ that left Yang’s mouth as she held her. Blake let her fingers trail through her feathers. 

“We need to get you to the pond,” she said, pulling back. “I know how to break the curse.”

Yang flapped her wings, and she took Ruby by the hands. “We need to get out of here.”

Ruby raised a brow and smiled. “My people will secure the palace for you. It’s the least we can do.” 

“And we’ll go find your parents,” Ilia said. She smiled at Blake. “We’ll find them, and we’ll free them.”

“How did you-”

“Later,” Weiss said. “Go save your girl.” 

Ruby moved them to the window, Ilia and Weiss guarding them, Yang leading the way and Blake bringing up the rear. She threw a look to the mound of swarming swans. It was a mass of red and white. Adam was still screaming.

Blake jumped out the window without another look back.

She ran across the gardens, Yang flying ahead. They ran into no one, but Blake could hear the sounds of battle all around her. Her heart beat like a drum in her chest, but she kept running through the grounds. _Yang_.

The treeline broke soon enough, and Yang was waiting for her in the water. Blake catapulted herself into Yang’s arms, clinging tight to her as she shook. “I am so sorry,” she sobbed, rubbing Yang’s back. “I should have listened to you, I am so-”

“It’s okay,” Yang said. “It’s okay. We’re all okay.” Blake drew back. Yang’s face was blurred by her tears, but she could still see that shimmering smile as bright as day. “I was so worried about you.”

“I thought you were dead. He told me-”

“He failed,” Yang assured, rubbing Blake’s biceps. “He tried, but he failed. He failed.” 

“I know how to break the curse,” she rushed. Her cheeks flushed. “I think.”

Yang raised a brow. “You think?”

“Do you love me?”

“What?”

“I said, do you love me?”

“Of course I love you,” Yang said, brow furrowed. “Why-”

Blake brought her hand up to Yang’s face. Yang nuzzled her hand. “I love you,” she said. “I love you.” Her tongue twisted itself into knots as she gazed as Yang’s lips. “Can I kiss you?”

Yang’s eyes widened. “Uh, yes, please, do that,” she stumbled.

Blake pressed her lips to Yang’s. They were soft as peaches and twice as sweet. Yang put her arms around Blake’s waist, and Blake looped her hands over her neck, pulling herself deeper into Yang. She was there. She was real. She was alive.

Behind her eyelids, there was a bright glow, but she kept her eyes shut as she savoured the kiss. Their first kiss. Yang washed away the feeling of Adam against her mouth, and she replaced it with softness and kindness. Blake threaded her fingers into Yang’s hair, holding her tight. 

They broke apart, foreheads still pressed together. She could feel Yang’s breath on her cheeks, and she smiled, even as tears started flowing down her cheeks. “I love you,” she said. “And I am so, so sorry, Yang. I am so sorry.”

Yang gently brushed the tears off her cheeks, her lilac eyes also growing wet. “You did what you had to do,” she said simply. “You did what I wanted you to do.”

Blake shook her head. “I should’ve listened, I should’ve-”

“Menagerie is saved because of you. You saved me.” Yang gently traced Blake’s cheek. “You saved me.”

“Ruby, Ilia, and Weiss saved Menagerie. I thought you were dead.” Her lip wobbled. “I thought I had lost you.”

“You could never lose me.” Yang kissed her lips once more. “Never.”

Blake took her by the elbows and gently guided her out of the water. She sucked in a breath as Yang stood on dry land, but there was no flash of golden light. Yang remained human. Yang looked up at her, dumbfounded. 

“What did- How did?”

“True love’s kiss,” she said simply, tears starting anew. “I love you, and you love me, and that’s stronger than any curse.”

“You’re damn right,” Yang said, throwing her arms around her. Blake held her tight, clenching her eyes shut. 

“I love you,” she said into her ear. “I’ve missed you so much.” There was a lump in her throat, and she sank deeper into Yang’s arms. Yang gently lowered them to the floor and pushed Blake’s hair out of her face.

“I know you don’t believe it yet,” Yang said quietly, “but this was not your fault. This was all his fault. You saved me.” Blake shook her head, but Yang just rubbed her back. “You did what you thought was best, and that’s all I could have asked for.”

“But if I had just waited-”

“He would have hurt more people. Wouldn’t he?” Blake nodded. “Then it wasn’t a mistake. You did what you had to do.” Yang smiled softly. “You’re going to be an excellent Queen one day.”

Blake reached for Yang’s hand. “Only if you’re by my side.”

“As long as you want me, Blake, I will be there. I promise you.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The epilogue should be posted tomorrow at some point, depending on how much I play with it. Hope you guys have enjoyed this journey as much as I've enjoyed writing it!


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is just Softness. Enjoy!

Blake took a deep breath and smoothed out her skirts. 

“Are you ready, your Highness?” Sun asked, wiggling his eyebrows. 

She didn’t bother biting back her smile. “I’m ready.”

They walked out of the brand new building, side by side. There was quite the crowd gathered, and Blake’s stomach flipped and flopped as she took in all the curious faces. “Thank you for coming!” Sun half-shouted, effectively quieting the crowd. “It is so awesome to see you all here.”

Blake rolled her eyes, but the corners of her lips tugged up. “We welcome you all to the opening of Gambol Shroud School, the first of its kind in all of Menagerie!” A cheer from the people. Sun threw her a grin. Blake cleared her throat. “We hope for this only to be the start. We’re already working on other schools throughout the kingdom, but we knew that we needed to start in the heart of the country.”

“Starting this coming fall, any student of any age can attend classes, so long as they sign up before summer’s end,” Sun continued. “We have so many teachers who are excited to meet their new students. We hope you will all consider sending your children and yourselves to Gambol Shroud School.”

Sun caught her eye, and she nodded. “But for now, please enjoy the festivities,” Blake said as Sun pushed open the doors behind them. He and Blake held the doors open as the people flooded in, oohing and ahhing over the newness of it all. Blake couldn’t help the smile that broke out over her face from seeing all the prospective students peeking into the classrooms to look at the desks and books and chalkboards. There was a feast fit for the whole country laid out in the school’s courtyard, and she felt a warmth come over her as she saw her people eating.

“This is a great thing you’ve done here,” a familiar voice said. Blake turned around to see Yang with a cocked brow and a smile across her face. “It’s really, really great, Blake. Better than I could have imagined.”

Blake drew closer, grabbing her fiance’s hands. “It was mostly Sun.”

Yang shook her head. “He may have had the plans, but you had the heart.”

“Well, thank you.” She blushed, and she rang her thumbs over the backs of Yang’s hands. “I was wondering where you were.”

“I was in the back with Ilia.”

Blake gently pulled her deeper into the building, until they were in the courtyard. She brought them under a tree and sat down at an unoccupied bench. “This is going to do so much good for Kuo Kuana, for Menagerie,” she said, eyes taking it all in. “I can’t believe it’s actually happening.”

Yang squeezed her hand. “It’s happening.” Her lilac eyes were soft. “You did this.” 

“But we can’t stop now, we need to see how the school in Ruyi Jingu is developing, and we need to check in with the teachers-”

“Baby,” Yang interrupted. “Enjoy today. You did great work. You should be proud of yourself.”

Blake shifted closer to Yang, their hands still clasped together between them. “I couldn’t have done it without your support, you know,” she said. 

Yang snorted. “All I did was make you stop and sleep every once in a while. This was all you.” Her lilac eyes shimmered. “You should be proud. You’ve done so much in such a little amount of time. Just think of where we were a year ago.”

“Do I have to?” she asked wryly.

“No, you definitely do not,” Yang said, squeezing her hand. “But seriously. In one year, you’ve done all this.” Yang gestured around the courtyard at all the people milling about. “Just think of all the good you’re going to do in the years to come.”

“All the good we’re going to do,” Blake corrected. “You were right there with me, pouring over budgets and scheduling and construction.”

Yang rolled her eyes, but Blake picked up on the red in her cheeks that followed. “It was the least I could do.”

“No, it really wasn’t,” she said, but Yang was looking at her lips. Blake blushed, leaning back. “Not here!” She lowered her voice. “It would be improper.”

“What?” Yang asked, eyes wide. “I didn’t say anything.” But she smirked. 

Blake rolled her eyes, gently elbowing Yang. “Save it for later,” she said.

“Oh, I will.” Yang’s eyes brightened. “We have the rest of the night off. No meetings, no dinners, just us.” Yang gave her a grin. “You don’t have plans, do you?”

Blake pretended to think for a moment. “No, I don’t think so. Why? Were you planning something?”

“Maybe.” Yang shrugged. “You’ll have to wait and see.”

“Yang!”

“Yes, your Highness?”

Blake bit her tongue to keep from smiling, but she failed. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

* * *

Yang came to her rooms later that night, basket in hand. Blake’s brows rose as she opened the door and let her in. “What’s with the basket?” she asked, crossing her arms.

“We’re having an indoor picnic!”

“An indoor picnic?” she repeated, watching as Yang spread a blanket out on her floor. Her ears perked up. “That sounds wonderful.”

“Well, it was supposed to be outdoors, but, well.” Yang jerked her head to the window, where it was downpouring. “So here we are! I’m sorry about the rain, though.” 

“I think you’ve had enough of the outdoors to last a while. One picnic indoors won’t kill us.” Blake spread her skirts as she sat, watching as Yang took out the plates and food. “You didn’t have to do this, you know.”

“No, but I wanted to. I figured I owed you for the ones you brought me.”

“You do not owe me for those,” Blake said, putting her hand over Yang’s wrist. “I’m just happy we can do this whenever we want, no matter the time of day.” 

Yang’s face softened, and she nodded. “I know. But I wanted to do this for you.” Yang leaned over and pressed a kiss to Blake’s cheek. “I wanted to do this because I love you.”

“You’re so sappy.” She smiled, and her ears relaxed. “I love you.”

Yang let out a breath, shaking her head. “Brothers, I cannot wait until I can call you my wife.”

“Just a few more months, Yang. We’ve waited this long.” She sighed. “But I’d be lying if I said I can stand the wait, either.”

“How much of the kingdom would revolt if we eloped?”

“The majority. And I think our parents would murder us.”

“Not if Weiss got to us first.” 

Blake laughed. “Okay, fair enough. Weiss would kill us.” She scooted closer to Yang, laying her head on her shoulder. “But we can still do this.”

“You know, you can’t eat like this,” Yang pointed out.

“I know. But I want to be close to you.” She closed her eyes and threaded their fingers together. “I love you.”

Yang hummed. “I love you too.” She paused. “You know what I miss, though? About being a swan?”

“What? Well, besides flying.”

“It’s not that great,” Yang protested. “It’s not greater than you, at least.” 

Blake blushed, turning her head into Yang’s neck. “What do you miss?”

“I miss your fingers running through my feathers. That was really nice.” There was a wistful longing in Yang’s voice. “It felt really nice.”

She straightened up and patted her shoulder. “Come here.”

“What?”

“I said, come here.”

Yang obliged, and her head was on Blake’s shoulder. Blake gently started stroking her head, following the path of her hair down her back. She kept brushing through her hair, lacing her fingers through the waves. “I like this much better than petting your feathers,” she said, voice low.

“Me too.” Yang suddenly shifted closer to her, putting her head in Blake’s lap and laying down across the blanket.

“Yang!”

“What? This’ll be easier.”

Blake rolled her eyes, but she kept stroking Yang’s head. She reveled in the silkiness of Yang’s hair, in the softness that accompanied her fiance’s long locks. “Now you’re the one who can’t eat,” she teased, ending her current stroke by curling Yang’s hair around her finger. 

“You could feed me.”

She chuckled. “I could. But I can’t kiss you when you’re down there.”

“In that case,” Yang began, straightening up with a smirk, “I’ll just have to come up here then.” Yang pressed her lips to Blake’s. Blake smiled into the kiss, and Yang pulled her close. 

“Dinner?” she asked, raising her brows as Yang pulled back. 

Yang nodded. Her lips were red as apples. “Dinner,” she agreed. “But then I want to kiss you again.”

“Good, because I want to kiss you too.” 

“Hey, Blake?”

“Yeah?”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first ever completed and fully published chaptered fic. Thank you all for coming along for the ride with me. I really loved writing this, even though most of it was on a whim and originated from yird, haha. If you want to see more from me, I'll be publishing a soulmate au called "something to carry" in the next few days, so keep an eye out! I might do some more fairy tale retellings with the bees in the future, but, for now, I'm gonna relax and enjoy. Hope you had as much fun as I did. :D
> 
> EDIT: something to carry is up!

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! I'll probably update as I write it. If you're curious about the progress of the next chapter, come chat with me on Tumblr! I'm softlighter on there.


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